


Punnett Squared

by Mini_Goat



Series: Punnett [2]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Angst and Feels, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Grief/Mourning, Loss of Trust, Parent-Child Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:26:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 22,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28360050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mini_Goat/pseuds/Mini_Goat
Summary: 2010 is in effect a wasted episode because it’s set in the non-future. But they thought the letter from Jack was odd…
Relationships: Samantha "Sam" Carter/Jack O'Neill, Samantha "Sam" Carter/Joseph Faxon
Series: Punnett [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2076918
Comments: 82
Kudos: 63





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Special shout out to MissAlice1990 and ONeillwith2lls for helping me see the potential for this side quest in the Punnett AU. It was a while in coming and there is still an epilogue to the main story… but that is a story for another day…

The year is 2004. My daughter, Catherine Grace Carter, who was conceived during a one night stand before my divorce was even filed with a woman who later became my 2IC, is five years old. I am still in love with her mother in spite of not being able to be with her… and I just walked off my job. Perhaps not my finest moment but a guy has to have some principles.

Jack grimaces as he starts up his truck. Sam comes running towards him. Apparently she grabbed the next tram out of the mountain.

“Jack, wait!” He sees her mouth and turns the key, killing the engine. He rolls down the window but doesn’t get out. “Jack, please… just… please listen. They want to help us.” Sam pleaded.

“You think so, huh? For free? I don’t buy it and I don’t know why you do either. You’re smarter than that, Carter.” He snarls as he starts his truck again and drives away. Behind him, he sees Sam is yelling something but he ignores her and heads home.

An hour later, she shows up at his house, clearly steamed at him. “Why won’t you listen to me?!” She demands.

“Because there’s something wrong with them, Sam! I can’t believe you are so blinded by your need to get your hands on new tech that you’re willing to ignore all the red flags… but you always ignore red flags, don’t you?”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” She demands as he backs her against a wall.

“Always going after the lunatic fringe…” His hands press the wall on either side of her, trapping her. “You keep getting burned and you just come back for more.” And with that, he angrily pushed her against the wall and claimed her mouth. She opened her mouth to protest. but instead of struggling away, Sam moaned with need and pulled him closer. “Shit.” He mumbled and pulled her to the floor.

Before he knew it, Sam had his sweater pulled over his head and her skirt was hiked around her waist and she was pulling at his belt buckle. She moaned his name when he claimed her neck with his mouth and yanked his jeans and boxers down with a single hard tug.

He kicked them off and away while he tugged at the buttons of her shirt. One of them ripped and neither of them cared. Jack roughly pulled her bra up without bothering with the clasp and claimed a taut nipple with his mouth while his fingers greedily pressed between her legs and into her, making her moan and arch.

He drove her hard and fast to the edge of release before removing his fingers and driving himself into her.

“Oh shit, Jack.” She moaned breathlessly and he drove into her faster, harder until she let out a shattered cry of release.

Jack claimed her mouth in a rough, punishing kiss as he pushed into her over and over until he exploded inside her with a guttural growl as his hips lost their rhythm and he instinctively thrusts hard spasmodically claiming this woman. Marking her as his. Knowing this would probably be the last time he held her. Made love to her. Wishing instead it was the first of many, Instead of the goodbye they both knew it was. Knowing it was the end of them being a family, of him giving her more children to love, of them giving him more children to love.

He huffed a sigh and eased off of her. She was disheveled and sated and beautiful. He had no right to her. He knew deep down he had no right to her. She’d come to beg him to stay. He’d beg her to leave. One of them has to compromise.

“Come with me, Sam.”

“You know I can’t, Jack.” She told him sadly as she started to redress.

“Sure you can. Resign… quit... whatever you want to call it. No good is going to come of this, Sam.” He told her.

“Then stay, Jack, so they have to listen.”

“Sam… they already fired me. There is no going back.”

Sam sighed. “I can’t leave, Jack. There’s too much at stake.”

“So that’s it then? This matters to you more than me?”

“It’s not that, Jack! You know it’s not that!”

“Do I? You’re literally picking your doohickeys over me, Sam. What the hell am I supposed to think?”

“And you’re picking your pride over me and your daughter!”

“At least one of her parents has some integrity!” He shouted at her.

That’s when she slapped him and left.

Still naked, Jack went to his fridge, grabbed a beer, and plopped onto his couch. Jack looked around the house and decided ‘fuck it’. He’d sell the place and move back up north to Minnesota. He’d have to talk to someone about a custody case for Grace. He didn’t think Sam would keep his daughter from him but at the rate things were going…

* * *

Two weeks later, Sam stopped by the house to talk to Jack about coming back again and found the house cleaned out and a ‘For Sale’ sign out front. His cell phone was disconnected when she tried to call. She sat in her car and cried for several minutes before driving to work.

Sam ran into Joe… what was his name… Fax? Faxon. That’s right. Joe Faxon.

“Everything all right, Sam?” He asked her, concern in his eyes. She’d clearly been crying.

Sam shook her head. “No… not really.” She admitted.

“Want to talk about it?” He smiled gently and the dimples in his cheeks deepened.

Sam sighed and shook her head as they got on the elevator. They rode in silence for a while until Joe finally looked hard at her.

“How about I take you out for a drink tonight… as a friend?” He added hastily at her sharp look. “You look like you need someone to talk to.”

Sam sighed. What the hell did it matter? He hadn’t even left her a note. She nodded mutely and Joe impulsively hugged her. It wasn’t who she needed or wanted a hug from but he was there and she needed the emotional support. “All right.”

He released her after a moment. “I’m sure whatever it is will get better, Sam.” He said gently.

Sam just sighed again. The man I’m in love with just walked out of my life without so much as a goodbye… but sure…. things will be fine… Sam thought. How am I going to tell Grace? Sam sniffled.

“Want me to cover for you while you go to the powder room to get cleaned up? You look kinda… soggy.”

This elicited a sad chuckle. “Thanks, Joe. I appreciate it.” She said as they got off the elevator and he played a silly mission impossible routine leading her to the head.

* * *

Later that evening, they met at a local martini bar she knew Jack wouldn’t step foot into. He was more of a chop house kind of guy. She couldn’t think of anything more awkward than Jack walking in on her evening with Joe. She ordered a whiskey sour though, wanting to keep her wits about her. Not that Joe didn’t seem like a nice enough guy but she wasn’t really herself and she didn’t want to do anything stupid on a first date.

Now where had that idea come from, she wondered. This wasn’t a date… was it?

Joe came in and squeezed her shoulder affectionately before sitting across from her. He ordered a beer and grinned when the waitress fought rolling her eyes. “Are you feeling better?”

Sam nodded. “Some. Thank you for earlier today.”

“Any time.” He patted her hand kindly. “So what happened?”

Sam shook her head. “Someone I thought loved me just left and moved away… disconnected his phone…” Her voice trailed off.

“Ah… yah… that’s cause for a good cry. I’m sorry, Sam. Break ups are hard when you see them coming. I can’t imagine someone just leaving out of the blue.”

She shook her head. “There were signs he would… even asked me to go with him two weeks ago.”

“So what happened?”

“We had a fight about my job and I left… And then when he didn’t answer any of my texts, I went to check up on him and… his house was emptied out and up for sale. He must have done it right after we fought.”

Joe’s heart broke for her. Clearly she’d loved the guy but he didn’t love her back. Something fiercely protective welled up inside him for this woman. She deserved so much better than to be just dumped with no explanation. “You deserve more, Sam.” He told her simply.

She smiled wanly at him and squeezed his hand. “Thank you, Joe.”

“All right. Let’s discuss something more pleasant. Daniel says you have a daughter?”

Sam’s face lit up. “Yes, her name is Grace and she’s five now.”

Joe grinned. Now here was a topic that would distract Sam from her jerk ex. “Sooo… she’s in what? First grade?”

“Well… technically the school she’s in isn’t like that. They have an advance program so when she excels at things which she usually does they allow her to advance to the next class in that subject. The kids are allowed to work ahead as well so they aren’t held back by anyone who needs a more traditional version of that class.”

“Sounds expensive.”

“It is a little, but her father has been paying most of the bill so far.” Sam’s face turned down. Would Jack continue to pay for Grace’s schooling or would she have to figure out how to budget the expensive school for the gifted on her own.

“He might not now though, huh?” Joe correctly guessing her recent break up was Grace’s father.

Sam thought about it for a long moment. “No… knowing him, he’ll continue to pay for her schooling. He’d consider it pretty important.” She admitted. And he loved his daughter… and Sam had no idea how she was going to tell Grace her beloved uncle Jack wasn’t coming back.

She and Joe sat talking and laughing most of the night and he walked her out to her car. “I had a nice time, Sam.” He told her, smiling.

“I did, too.” She admitted and smiled a little in return.

Joe leaned in and gave her a gentle, chaste kiss. “Drive safe. I’ll see you Monday.” He said and held her car door while she got in.

Driving home, all Sam could think of was the marked difference between Joe and Jack. Joe laughed and smiled easily. He wasn’t afraid to admit he was attracted to her either. And she didn’t understand why Jack just left like that without a word. They had never really argued in the past about anything really important but they had always been able to work things out. His reaction to all this just didn’t track. She doubted Joe would do such a thing. He didn’t seem to clam up like Jack does.

Suddenly the nice night crashed around her and Sam was miserable again. Why had he left? Didn’t he love her enough to stay when he didn’t have his job holding him here too? Sam walked into the tiny bungalow she owned. Marge had gone to bed and Sam stopped by her daughter’s door. Her sweet, brilliant little girl who just a few short weeks ago had been teased by her father about learning long division. Sam swiped away a tear and closed the door. Sam went to her room, got undressed, and cried herself to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Three weeks later, a court order showed up for a paternity test… and it had a note.

_Sorry things had to be this way. I’m only having this done legally for her protection. It’s nothing personal._

_-_ _O’Neill_

Nothing else. He’d shattered her heart and it was nothing personal? Nothing _PERSONAL?_! After everything he’d put her through, it was nothing personal?! Sam cursed at length. “You sorry son of a bitch if I never see you again it will be too soon!” She said after her string of vulgarities.

But contrary to logic her heart broke all over again and Sam sat on the couch sobbing for an hour that he’d just left her like this. She sobbed until she felt sick, vomited into the wastepaper basket by her couch, and cried some more.

Her phone rang.

Sam hiccupped and grabbed it as she stood. She needed a drink of water anyway. “Carter.” She said tiredly.

“Sam? Did I catch you at a bad time?” It was Joe.

“What? No… no it’s fine. Did you need something?”

“Well… yes actually. The Aschen are inviting us to tour some of their worlds and General Hammond would like you to join us on base. I volunteered to call so I could ask you if you would like to go out with me when we get back tonight?”

They had been on a few what Sam supposed were dates since the first one. She liked Joe. He was kind, sweet, and he didn’t make her feel confused or out of balance. “Sure. I’d love to.” She told him with warmth in her voice.

“Great! I’ll see you on base in… an hour?”

“An hour it is.” Sam agreed.

An hour later, Sam was waiting in the infirmary for her blood work to give her the all-clear. “Janet?”

“Yah Sam?” Janet said absently from the other side of the room.

“Can I have something for my cramps? They’re terrible this month.” Sam complained.

“You are a little bloated. I’ll have one of the nurses grab you a Vicodin.” Janet agreed. Sam’s unusual post-host body chemistry made more mild medications were less effective with her, even so her bad cramping and other premenstrual symptoms had not improved. Half a Vicodin usually helped take the edge off.

“Thanks, Janet.” Sam said and winced as her stomach cramped again.

Just as the nurse handed Sam her pill and a water, Janet snatched it out of her hand.

“Hey!” Sam objected.

“My office. Now Sam.” Janet ordered and led Sam through the infirmary.

Once there, Janet firmly shut the door and handed Sam her chart. Sam looked at her perplexed and Janet impatiently tapped a line item.

“Oh…” Sam said and at least had the decency to blush. Her hCG levels were well above the normal range even when her naquadah messed with her cycle.

“You aren’t going anywhere today, Sam.” Janet told her.

Sam’s stomach sunk. By the numbers… Sam was about five weeks pregnant. Which was ironic. Sam had made love to Jack wishing it was because they were making the choice to be together now that he wasn’t in the Air Force. Instead they had gotten into a huge fight and he’d left.

Sam started to cry.

Janet sighed and hugged her. Knowing full well who the father was by that reaction.

There was a knock on the door.

“Sam, in there with you, Janet? We need to get going.” Joe said.

Janet stuck her head out and told Joe to get lost.

Sam interrupted though. “No… Have him come in… he’s going to find out in a few minutes anyway.”

“What’s going on?” Joe asked, his voice worried. “Are you all right, Sam?”

Sam shook her head. “I’m pregnant.” She admitted very softly.

“Oh.” Joe said thoughtfully. He looked at her miserable expression. She clearly had no desire to terminate or this wouldn’t be bothering her so much but the man who had fathered this child had walked out of her life without a word. Did he really deserve to be a father to this baby too? Joe nodded to himself. “Well, I guess we’ll just have to get married then.” He concluded.

“Ah… what?” Sam looked flabbergasted at Joe.

“I mean I know we’ve only been dating a few weeks and all but it’s not like we had a one night stand or anything. Right?”

Sam looked at him strangely. Why was he offering to do this?

Joe gave her a gentle smile, trying to tell her with his eyes she didn’t have to do this alone this time, that he’d be there for her even though they had never slept together… that he’d claim this baby as his own to protect her.

Sam bit her lip. She needed someone she could trust. And did Jack really deserve to know he was a father again after the way he’d acted? Sam really didn’t think so right now. She nodded and gave him a relieved look when he grinned.

“All right. I guess I’ll… um… go on my mission. When I get back, we’ll pick out some rings and stuff.” He said grinning as he leaned over and gave her a gentle kiss on her lips and left.

After he was gone, Janet gave Sam a stern look.

“What?” Sam huffed.

“Don’t you ‘what’ me. What exactly was that?”

“Um… well… I guess I’m getting married is what.”

Janet tapped her foot a couple times. “To a man you aren’t in love with who isn’t the father of that baby either.” She said sternly.

“He left, Janet.” Sam said, her voice sounding empty. She felt hollowed out. Past tears. “He didn’t even say goodbye before he left. Didn’t even say goodbye to Grace… I can’t spend my life waiting for him to come back. I don’t even know how to get a hold of him. He turned off his cell phone and didn’t leave me his new number. He obviously doesn’t care at all.”

But Janet just shook her head. She knew that wasn’t the truth. Something else was going on. Something Sam refused to talk about or didn’t even know herself though that was unlikely. She picked up the phone and punched in General Hammond’s office. “Sir?... Yes sir, Major Carter will not be joining SG-1 today… Well, sir, her hCG levels have come back unusually high… Ambassador Faxon plans to marry her as soon as possible, sir… I see, sir…. Yes, yes I will. Thank you, sir.” Janet hung up and sighed.

She gave Sam an odd look. “General Hammond says congratulations and you are grounded until after maternity leave.”

Sam sighed. “Thank you for not telling him.”

“You owe me.” Was all Janet said and opened her door so they could both leave the office. She hugged Sam though on her way out. For whatever reason Sam didn’t want Jack to know he was a father. Janet didn’t think it was right after what he went through with Charlie and how much he loved Grace and Cassie but it wasn’t up to Janet. This was Sam’s decision to make right or wrong.

Three weeks later, Sam married Joe in a quiet ceremony at a local chapel. Grace and Cassie were flower girls, George gave Sam away as Jacob couldn’t get away to come home on short notice.

At the reception, Grace kept wandering around like she was looking for something.

“What’s up, doll?” Aunt Marge asked the little girl.

“Where’s Uncle Jack?” Grace asked Auntie Margie.

Sam had avoided the subject with her daughter which irked Marge. “We aren’t sure, doll. He had to move away. I’m sure as soon as he’s settled he’ll have us all up for a visit. In the meantime, you have a new daddy to get to know.” Marge said encouragingly.

“I don’t want a daddy. I want my Uncle Jack.” Grace said with a stubborn pout.

“I know the feeling, doll.” Marge told her as she pulled the sweet little girl in a ridiculously fluffy dress into her lap. “As soon as we hear from him, I’ll let you know.” She promised.

Sam followed the court order knowing what came next. When the next round of paperwork came, it was a request for joint custody. Sam sighed. They had never needed more than a verbal agreement before. Jack came over to visit a couple times a week if they weren’t on a mission.

She and Joe were sitting on the couch together reading the paperwork after Grace had been read to and gone to bed. She wasn’t really handling the transition well and they hadn’t even told her about the baby yet.

“Well, I mean is it really a bad thing that he wants to be legally recognized as her father?” Joe asked.

“No… it’s not that… there’s no address, no way to contact him directly. What if something happens?”

Joe thought for a bit. “He knows how to contact you right?”

Sam nodded.

“Well, all right then. He’s never given you any indication he can’t be trusted before, right?”

Sam nods.

“Then… I don’t know… he might just need some time to cool off or something. He did leave yelling at General Hammond after all. It may not even be about you, Sam.” Joe admitted.

“Joe… should we have gotten married?” She asks him, concerned.

He hugged her. “Sam, I know I’m not the love of your life but it sure seems like that’s not been all it’s cracked up to be from my perspective.”

Sam sighed.

“I know you don’t love me the way you did him, Sam, but I hope some day you might love me as much?”

She nodded slowly.

“And, in the meantime, we’ll fill out all this paperwork so he has no cause to complain that you are keeping his daughter from him.”

“All right.” Sam agreed.

He put his hand gently on her belly and kissed her. “I’m here for you, Sam. No matter what.” He said and got up to make Sam some tea.

* * *

Then the phone calls from school started. At first, it was little things. Defiance… not doing her work… and then the tantrums started. Sam found herself coming to pick Grace up from school more often than not but she didn’t calm down once home either. Not for Sam… not for Marge… certainly not for Joe… especially not for Joe.

Sam tried enlisting Teal’c who had stayed until Sam had the baby but intended to leave for Chulak once she’d safely given birth to his brother by heart’s child. Though Sam had never said, Teal’c knew the baby was Jack’s. It was Sam’s choice not to tell O’Neill, but Teal’c would discharge his duty as the child’s uncle before he left.

He was walking with Grace in the park down the street from Sam’s new home. “What troubles you, Catherine Grace?” He asked her as they sat on a bench.

Grace leaned against him. She loved how big and strong Uncle T was. He reminded her of Uncle Jack. Grace sniffled. “I miss Uncle Jack.”

“I miss O’Neill as well, Catherine Grace. Perhaps you could write him a letter?”

Grace sighed. “I don’t know where to send it.” She admitted. He hasn’t called me even once.” She buried her face in his sweater.

Teal’c gently patted Grace’s shoulder. “I do not have his address, but I know who does. I will see that he receives your letter.” Teal’c vowed.

“Promise, Uncle T?”

“I promise.”

She hugged him.

Things got better after that for a while until she didn’t hear back from him. She’d pleaded with him to come home. That she didn’t like Daddy Joe and she didn’t want a little brother either. Then the acting up started up again… only worse because now she was taking it personally that Uncle Jack didn’t want to see her any more even though Sam and even Daniel assured her that Jack missed her but he had to move away unexpectedly and would get in touch as soon as he could.

It was nearly the end of the school year when Sam got a request from Jack’s attorney. Sam had just had the baby and Grace had hit nearly unmanageable. Sam honestly couldn’t handle any more stress. So when he asked if he could take Grace for the summer… Sam realized she needed to let Grace go visit him for a few months. Especially after what had happened that week.

“Stop telling me what to do! You’re not my dad!” Grace had screamed at Joe after he asked her for the fourth time to clean the bedroom that she used to keep spotless but now looked like a hurricane had hit it.

“Grace, as long as I’m married to your mom and you live under my roof, it’s your responsibility to be a team player.” Joe said reasonably, trying to appeal to her tendency to want to be helpful.

“No! I don’t care! I didn’t tell you to marry mom! I didn’t tell you you could have a baby with her!” Grace threw her doll on the floor. “You aren’t his daddy either anyway!” She’d screeched in her shrill six-year-old voice.

Joe had been taken aback. How had she figured that out? “Grace, I know I’m not your father but I do love you and I want what’s best for you.” Joe had told her.

“No, you don’t. You wanted a pretty wife and a ready-made family because it makes you look good to the Aschen.” She accused him.

Joe sighed. “I’m sorry you feel that way, Grace. Please clean your room.” He’d said and left.

Sam, for her part, had been impressed. Usually she ended up screaming back at Grace… but perhaps because Joe didn’t have a vested interest… But he did, didn’t he? He said he loved Grace and Sam believed him… but perhaps it would be best if Grace spent some time with her dad.

“He’s probably going to tell her, you know.” Joe said of Grace’s parentage.

“I know… and she’s going to hate me even more.” Sam said sadly from Joe’s bare shoulder.

He stroked her skin gently and kissed her. “She said Lucas isn’t mine, Sam.”

“She’s just guessing, Joe. Don’t say anything. Just ignore it.”

“But what if—“

“Auntie Marge didn’t say anything. I don’t know that she even knows either way. The only people who know are you and Janet.” Sam insisted. “Janet wouldn’t tell her.”

Joe nodded. “I do love you, Sam. You know that don’t you?”

Sam smiled softly and kissed him gently. “I love you, Joe.” She told him and she did. Not as much as she loved Jack, not even in the same way but Joe was safe and wanted her and there was nothing in the way of their relationship. Sex with Joe, while not explosive, was satisfying and he’d accepted her children without a second thought. He was a good man, a good husband, a good father. He was stable and reliable in every way.

The next day Sam sat down with Grace at the kitchen table. “I got a letter from Uncle Jack.” She told her daughter.

“Can I see it?”

“No, it’s personal… but he wants you to come visit him at the cabin for the summer.” Sam told her daughter.

Grace looked at her suspiciously. “All of us?”

Sam shook her head. “No… just you.”

“Don’t you want to come too?” Grace asked innocently.

Sam’s eyes welled up but she refused to give into the tears that threatened. More than anything but she couldn’t tell Grace that. Couldn’t admit she’d never stopped loving Jack. “I have to stay here and help your dad at work.” Sam told her.

“Joe isn’t my dad, mom.” Grace said mutinously.

Sam sighed. “Joe loves you, Grace.”

“I don’t care. He’s not my dad.” Grace said, her small slender arms crossed over her chest in defiance.

“All right. Do you want to spend the summer with your Uncle Jack? It’s all right if you don’t.” Sam told her, not really sure what the answer would be.

“How long?”

“He’d like at least a couple weeks but he asked if you might want to stay until school started.” She admitted.

“Okay.” Grace agreed right away.

“He said if you aren’t happy at the cabin, he’d bring you right home.” Sam assured her.

“I’ll be okay, mommy.” She told Sam. “I promise.”

And after that, Grace’s behavior improved, at least at school. She still wouldn’t do what she was told at home until fed up Sam finally told her if she didn’t behave she could forget about her vacation at Uncle Jack’s cabin.

That got through to the girl. She wasn’t exactly good as gold but she stopped being openly defiant at home as well.

The morning Jack was supposed to pick her up she sat with her bags by the door, a doll cradled in her arms.

Joe patted Sam’s arm to reassure her that it would be okay.

Sam shook her head. “She’s going to be devastated if he doesn’t show up.”

“You said he’s never let her down in the past. I don’t think he intends to start now, Sam. For all his flaws, this is the one thing he’s not going to screw up.”

Sam nodded and a few moments later, a rental SUV pulled up in the driveway. A somewhat disheveled looking Jack O’Neill jumped out of the driver’s side and headed jauntily up the walk. Sam in a sudden fit of anxiety picked up her son and headed to the back of the house. Unable to face the man she was still in love with in spite of marrying someone else.

The doorbell rang.

Grace yanked open the door and threw herself at her father. “Uncle Jack! I’ve missed you!” She squealed happily as he spun her around laughing.

“I’ve missed you more, kiddo!” He said, hugging her tightly. He looked at Joe. “Ambassador.” Jack said politely to the man.

“Colonel.” Joe replied just as politely.

In the back of the house, Lucas started crying.

Jack’s face assumed the interested frown he often wore when someone had something they should have told him.

“Our son, Lucas. Would you like to meet him?” Joe asked politely.

“Some other time.” Jack said, unable to hide the hurt in his eyes that Sam had so quickly moved on. The baby was already a few months old by his cries.

“All right. I’ll help you take Grace’s bags to the car.”

“Thanks.” Jack said politely. He had nothing against the guy other than marrying the woman he loved and apparently getting her pregnant right away.

“Be good for Uncle Jack.” Joe told Grace.

Grace nodded solemnly. “I will.”

“Call if you need anything.” Joe told them both.

Jack wanted to dislike the guy… but he was too decent of a guy to hold a grudge against. He was probably better for Sam than he’d ever been anyway. “Give Carter a hug for me. We’ll see you in a few weeks.” Jack put out his hand for Joe to shake. He figured by now Sam had told Joe of Jack’s real relationship with Grace.

Joe took his hand and pumped it a couple times. “Have a safe flight. Both of you.” Joe said.

Jack nodded.

As they drove away, Jack smiled at his daughter. “So Lucas, huh? As in George?”

“Uncle Danny said mom couldn’t get Joe to agree to naming the baby after Grandpa George so she tried a pun.” Grace informed him.

Jack laughed until he cried. “Why do I think Teal’c had something to do with that idea?”

“Because he suggested it.” Grace informed him primly which just made Jack laugh harder.

“I’ve missed you.” He finally told Grace.

“How come you didn’t write me back?” She asked him. Hurt in her eyes.

Jack sighed. “I knew if I wrote you directly your mom would want to read it too. That was pretty clever of you getting Teal’c to pass a message to me by the way.”

“It was his idea.” She admitted.

“It was a good one. I’m sorry I left so suddenly, Grace. I lost my job. That’s why I moved away.”

She looked at him for a long time. “But if you aren’t in the Air Force anymore, how come you and mom didn’t get married?”

Jack sighed. “That’s a long story, kiddo.” He admitted, and not one you’re old enough to hear yet. “I’ll tell you when you’re a little older.”

“Everyone tells me that.” She grumped.

“Well… you’re six, Grace. Even if you do act older.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. She’d accused Joe of not being Lucas’ father but she didn’t know for sure. Mom started dating Joe right after Uncle Jack left. She knew mom had been dating Uncle Jack before that and that Uncle Jack loved her mom more than anything which was why he used to visit a couple times a week and used playing with her as an excuse to do it.

Jack looked at her posture and chuckled a little. “Want to grab some breakfast before our flight? We’ve got a little time.” He told her.

“Yah!”

* * *

Back at the house, Sam came out of the back where she was admittedly hiding with the baby once she was certain Jack was long gone. She didn’t know why she’d been such a coward… or perhaps she did. Perhaps she wasn’t afraid of him so much as herself. That she’d make a fool of herself for a man that didn’t want her any more… oh, she had no doubt he still loved her. That’s why he was keeping his distance and his attorney was handling the custody issues. It didn’t even occur to her that most of his reason had to do with her not believing in him then marrying someone the moment he left as if he’d never mattered to her at all.

Sam was afraid she’d run to his arms and blurt out how much she loved Jack right in front of her husband. She hoped Joe didn’t know that was the reason. She knew Joe did love her, very much so, apparently. She loved him too… as much as she could.

“He’s just as afraid to see you as you are to see him.” Joe told her.

She started at him, shocked and appalled that he’d figured out her reasons.

“I can be your go-between. He’s a good person, Sam. A good father. You just weren’t healthy for each other that’s all.” Joe said with an understanding shrug as he took the baby and bounced him on his shoulder.


	3. Chapter 3

The flight was quiet. Grace had been so excited all the way to Denver that she promptly passed out as soon as the thrum of the turbines on the 767 became monotonous.

Jack found himself lost in memories.

Jack had sat a long time on that couch. Until the cold seeped into his bones and long after. His elbows on his knees, hands clasped together with his thumbs together pressing into his forehead. She wanted him to stay… but he couldn’t. This wasn’t just a suspicion. This was a gut feeling the Aschen were up to no good. That it went beyond a little political maneuvering. They just exuded evil somehow. That gut feeling had saved Jack’s life so many times he refused to ignore it and that gut feeling was telling him to get as far away from civilization and the Aschen as he could manage.

So he’d started packing right away. Most of the stuff he didn’t care about and called a charity to come pick it up… but his photos and books he kept, his guitar and his telescope, a few gifts he’d received over the years but most of everything else he just donated. They were just things. Objects.

The things he kept he had a service transport up to the cabin and he packed up an overnight bag with some of his most precious items. Charlie’s baseball mitt. His photo of Sam… and another of Grace giving a toothy grin for her first school photo.

Jack had boarded the flight from Denver to Minneapolis with tears stinging his eyes. Once he got to the cabin he called his attorney and told him that he needed to arrange a paternity test without explaining exactly why… and that he needed to do so with legal consequences. He needed to be on Grace’s birth certificate now. Before the Aschen had a chance to do anything to her. He called the school and had her classes automatically deducted from his hazard pay savings account he’d set up years ago on the off chance something happened to him Sam wouldn’t have to worry about Grace’s education. His attorney would handle the estate if he wasn’t there to do so himself. There was more than enough in it for Grace to finish primary school.

Then Jack had sat on his dock and drank until he couldn’t feel anything anymore. He’d wanted to send Sam a better letter than he had with the court order but every time he tried to write it, his heart came pouring out with it. If she’d wanted that she wouldn’t have picked the Aschen over him.

Grace’s letter had come with a short update from Walter who had been Teal’c go-between. Sam had married the ambassador and they had a baby on the way. He was happy for her. He supposed.

Grace’s letter was not happy. She begged him to come home. She didn’t like Joe and didn’t want a baby brother. Jack knew it was just a phase but as the year progressed her behavior became erratic enough that it had gotten back to Walter who had called him concerned.

Jack called his attorney. Sam hadn’t fought him about shared custody. Hopefully, she wouldn’t fight him about visitation.

In the end… she hadn’t.

On the drive to breakfast, Jack could see why. He was certain this was the happy version of Grace right now and she currently oozed ennui. Oh yah. Definitely my kid, Jack thought with wry amusement. So Jack did what every dad in the history of dads has ever done for an unhappy kid. Cracked lame jokes until he made her laugh, ignoring his heart break that the woman he still loved couldn’t even bring herself to set eyes on him after marrying another man and giving him a child right away.

Grace finally relaxed enough to enjoy breakfast and slept on the plane ride while Jack went back to brooding.

When he decided to ask if he could have some time with Grace, he stopped drinking. He knew he needed to dry out and didn’t want to give Sam a reason to tell his attorney no in the future. God… Sam… he missed her. Even hearing she’d gotten married hadn’t changed that. He was positive she’d done so because she’d gotten pregnant on accident and not because she genuinely loved the guy as much as he and Sam had loved each other. Joe was a good guy and he cared about Sam. If he looked after her and made sure she was happy… oh, who was he kidding.

Jack sighed. He’d been terrified after he’d sent off his request and there hadn’t been an immediate yes or no. Two weeks later, the paperwork came back with a short note that Sam wanted his word that if Grace asked to come home that he honor his daughter’s wishes. Jack readily complied. He just wanted to see his kid. It had been almost a year of no contact.

Jack looked over at Grace who was curled on her side in the seat. His mouth turned down in sadness. I’m sorry, he thought at her. I’m sorry for all of it. I tried, kiddo. I really did. All I can do now is help you adjust.

* * *

On the drive to the cabin, Grace was unusually silent.

“If you get up early in the morning, you might see some deer in the yard.” Jack told her hopefully.

“Okay.” Was all she said.

“The bottom of the pond is a little slimy. If your mom didn’t pack swim shoes, we’ll get some in town or I can go online and order you some.”

“I have a pair.” Grace said in a far off voice.

Jack sighed. “You miss your mom.” He concluded.

She shook her head silently though there were tears welling in the corners of her eyes.

Jack reached over and stroked his daughter’s hair. “It’s okay to be sad, Grace.” He told her.

“Even if it’s that you didn’t marry mom?” She asked him rather piteously.

“Especially over that.” He agreed.

“Why didn’t you ask her?”

Jack didn’t say anything for a moment, his eyes on the road ahead of him. “I would have but I didn’t get the chance. I had to leave and asked her to come with me. She… the job came first…” He trailed off, unable to explain to a six year old that her mother had broken his heart. Unwilling to tell his daughter that her mom was making a bad choice because if there was one thing he’d learned… was that separated parents shouldn’t blame each other in front of the kids. “Grace, I love your mom… but she had her reasons for staying behind and I respect them.”

Grace gave him a dirty look. “She started dating Joe right away, Uncle Jack. I thought she loved you too but I guess not.” She said bitterly to him.

Jack’s heart ached. Sam had probably jumped into Joe’s arms out of grief, not love. When she got pregnant, Joe probably offered to marry her because he’s a decent guy in spite of picking up with someone who was just using him to get back at her ex emotionally. He’d have done the same thing for Sam in Joe’s position in all likelihood.

“I’m sure your mom had her reasons, Grace. How about we work on making the best of things from now on? Starting with let’s enjoy our vacation, huh?”

Grace nodded slowly. “Okay.” She agreed.

“Atta girl.” Jack said with a smile and ruffled her tawny curls. “You need a better brush. We’ll stop in town. I think there’s a beauty supply shop.”

Grace gave him a funny look. “Uncle Jack, you’re a boy. What do you know about hair?”

Jack chuckled though. “I will have you know my grandma’s hair was just like yours. She said she got it from her mom who never had to curl her hair like the other girls did. She had to put big rollers in the front to straighten it.”

Grace giggled.

“I’ll show you some photos I have. My Great-Grandma was very pretty like your mom.”

“She was?”

“Oh yah! And a good shot like your mom too. My Great-Grandpa used to tell me stories about her all the time. They used to have adventures together before they got married.”

“Like you and mom used to?”

“Just like your mom and I used to and he had a couple of really close friends just like Uncle Danny and Uncle T also. They did everything together.”

“Like what?”

“Well one time back before they got married… there was a group of Mexicans that got cheated out of their land by a shady family from back East and your Great-Great-Grandma didn’t know they were the real owners and held them off from those rotten land thieves with just a shot gun while your Great-Great-Grandpa and his friends snuck around behind them… but then they found out the new owners had cheated the original owners so your Great-Great-Grandpa saved the day by spending his own money to hire the best attorney in the state to get them their land back.”

“Is that story true?”

“Sure it’s true.” Jack said.

“What else did they do?”

Jack grins, warming up. “Great-Grandpa swore on his life he met time travelers once…”

* * *

“Do you think they are all right?” Sam asked Joe as they lay together in bed.

“I’m sure they will call us if anything goes wrong, Sam. He knows where to find you if there’s an emergency.”

Sam snuggled into Joe’s shoulder.

“Janet said you finally got your first round of shots.”

“Yah, she said it shouldn’t affect nursing Lucas, but if it does, he’s six months old now and can go on formula if need be.”

“Good. The Aschen have been so helpful already. I don’t want to offend them.”

Sam nodded agreement. She especially was looking forward to the anti-cancer inoculation after what her dad went through. “You should see some of the stuff they have brought me. Janet’s job is going to be obsolete soon I bet.”

Joe chuckled. “I’m not sure I can handle a bored Janet.” He said which made Sam laugh as well.

Lucas started fussing over the monitor and Sam got up.

“Hey, hurry back, beautiful.” Joe said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Sam giggled as she went out of the room. In these moments she could almost forget he wasn’t Jack…


	4. Chapter 4

Jack took Grace for long hikes in the woods around his property. Taught her how to move silently through the forest floor. He taught her which plants were safe to eat and which ones made good medicine and why. He’d learned this stuff when he was just a little boy himself from a man he barely remembered, who had been good friends with the local tribes back before they had been forced onto reservations.

He taught her how to make a fishing pole from a sapling and how to properly set a fire. Jack even dug out Charlie’s old bow and arrow and taught her how to consistently hit a target. Then he taught her how to hit moving targets. He wasn’t sure what his real motive was here. But the same warning that told him to get away from Colorado was telling him to prepare his daughter for a rough life.

“Uncle Jack?”

“Yah kiddo?” He replied. They were sitting together in the woods by the fire she had perfectly laid from tinder she’d gathered herself and he had set.

“Do you still love my mom?”

Jack sighed. “She’s one of my best friends, Grace, of course I love your mom. And Aunt Janet and Uncle T and Uncle Danny. You guys are my family.”

Grace seemed to think about that for a while. “You loved mom different though.”

Jack nodded sadly. “Yah… I loved your mom different.”

Grace sighed. “I used to wish you were my dad.”

Jack smiled ironically. He’d leave it up to Sam when she decided to tell Grace the truth if ever. “Joe isn’t a bad guy, Grace, and he loves your mom.”

“He tries way too hard.” Grace grumbled.

“Well, people do that when they want you to like them. Try cutting him a little slack. He came into a relationship with a ready made family. Lots of people handle it a lot worse than he has and he hasn’t ignored you over the baby either.”

Grace looked at Jack thoughtfully. She wondered if her mom didn’t have Joe around if she’d have eventually caved and accepted Uncle Jack’s offer to leave. “I wish Uncle T hadn’t gone home too. I miss him.”

Jack smiled sadly. That was one he could get behind. “I miss your uncle T as well. I’m sure he’ll visit when he can.” Jack told Grace.

“Is it true he’s from another planet?”

Jack nodded. The Stargate program going public had been one of the requirements of receiving the Aschen’s help. One of many things Jack had thought was a terrible idea. “He’s from a place called Chulak.” Jack told her.

“Have you been there?”

Jack smiled and handed his daughter a sandwich. “A couple times.” He admitted.

“Was it nice?”

Jack frowned, bobbed his head a couple times. “Some of it was.” He told her.

“Did you get shot at?”

“Oh yah.” He said with a chuckle and bit into his own sandwich.

* * *

Their days more or less followed that same pattern. Explore the woods. Jack teaching his daughter basic survival skills. She even managed to catch one of the small bluegill he’d put in his pond to feed the crappie that never seemed to surface even though he knew they were there. He’d had some delivered after telling everyone there were no fish in his pond. A few years from now he’d swear he’d caught them all… and be wrong… but right now there were at least a handful. Jack had her throw back the little bluegill even though they were tasty.

At the end of August, Jack walked along the winding dirt road in front of his property with his daughter.

“Do I have to go home, Uncle Jack?” She asked him. Her skin had taken on a golden glow from days in the sun.

“Yah… School starts in a couple weeks, kiddo.”

“I could go to school here.” She said hopefully.

Jack shook his head. “No can do, kiddo. There’s nothing like your school around here. And I know your mom has missed you.”

“Yah right.” She muttered.

“I know she has because I missed you.” He admitted.

“Then come home!” She wailed at him.

Jack’s heart sank into his colon. “I would if I could, kiddo.” He told her sadly.

Grace flung herself into his arms. “Just come home, Uncle Jack. Please come home!”

Jack held his sobbing daughter. If he came home, they would give him those shots the same as they did everyone else… and he didn’t trust anyone who told him this is too complex for anyone even Sam to understand. There was no way Sam didn’t understand what she was looking at which meant they were hiding something from everyone. Something bad. If he didn’t have Sam’s feelings to take into consideration, he’d ask for full custody and get his daughter as far away from the Aschen as he possibly could.

“You can come stay with me every summer. Okay?”

“Every summer?”

“Yup. I promise. As long as your mom says it’s okay.”

Grace wiped at her red rimmed eyes. “Okay.” She agreed sadly.

“I want you to make me a promise though.” He told her as they walked further.

“Okay?”

“You promise me you will do your best to be nice to Joe.”

Grace frowned. She had almost forgotten her stepfather.

“And you be a good big sister to your little brother.”

Grace sighed. “Okay…”

“It’s important, Grace. I know you can be a good girl. I don’t want your mom thinking I put ideas in your head or she won’t let you spend your summer here again.”

She nodded miserably. “I’ll try.”

He scrubbed the top of her head with his hand affectionately.

“I love you, Uncle Jack.”

“I love you too, Catherine Grace.” He said with a small smile. At least he had this… and this wasn’t too bad.

He took Grace home a few days later. She had a short note for her parents from him, thanking them for allowing him to spend time with Grace all summer and that he hoped they would indulge him again next year. None of the wording indicating that he’d told her yet that he was her father.

He’d given Grace his number to call him if there was ever the kind of emergency that involved needing him to come get her. He then swore her to secrecy.

Jack knew eventually Sam might find it but he knew her well enough that she probably would never actually use it. Not unless there was some kind of emergency anyway. And even then she’d probably just show up. He’d taught her well. Never leave a trail.

When he dropped Grace off, she was subdued but hugged him and told him she loved him before going in the house. Jack helped Joe bring Grace’s bags in.

“Did she have a good time?” Joe finally asked Jack.

Jack nodded. “Seemed to. I tried to get through to her that you aren’t the enemy, Joe.” Jack said.

Joe gave him an odd look as if asking if he said anything else.

“I didn’t tell her. That’s up to her mom to decide when it’s time.”

“I misjudged you, Jack. I’m sorry.”

Jack nodded sharply but didn’t answer. “Tell Carter I said thank you.” Jack finally told the other man gruffly as he left.

Joe nodded then looked up the stairs. He knew Grace would be at her window watching her father leave.

Jack drove away without a look back. Joe had to wonder if it was because Jack didn’t want to think about who else might be watching him go, or that she wouldn’t be.

* * *

Grace was now quiet and sullen. She didn’t openly defy Sam or Joe but she wasn’t exactly cooperative either. She was kind to her little brother though and played with him when her mom needed a break or Joe had to do a conference call.

“I don’t know what to do, Joe.” Sam finally told her husband heart brokenly about it one night after they went to bed. Lucas had turned a year old and like Grace looked remarkably like his father.

Joe hugged Sam. “She’s trying, Sam. That’s all we can ask of her and it’s not affecting her schoolwork anymore at least.”

Sam nodded miserably. “She does what she’s told but it’s like she doesn’t care. Like she’s only living to go back.” Sam had been guilty of that herself but there was no going back for Sam. She had made her choices and she’d chosen Joe… or Joe had chosen her at least. Sam had simply accepted her fate. Had that been what Jack had done as well? Accepted his fate because he couldn’t convince her he was right? Why was he so certain though? The Aschen had never given them any indication they were motivated by anything but altruism. They gave medicine and technology without asking for anything in return at all and they had eliminated the Goa’uld threat to Earth. Hadn’t that been what they were all fighting for anyway? To be safe? Happy?

She had no idea Jack had grown up at the knees of a man who filled his head with classic literature and trusting his instincts. Historically when it came to men, Sam’s instincts were always wrong. That’s why when he’d asked her to leave and her heart had shouted YES… Sam had told him no.

“If it’s what gets her through the day, Sam… just let her be. She still loves you.”

Sam sighed and nodded agreement.

* * *

Three months later, George Hammond had a heart attack and died.

Grace stood with Marge at the funeral. There were several Aschen diplomats loitering which irked Marge. She agreed with Jack. There was just something off about these people. She didn’t trust them either. They patted everyone’s hands and assured them everything was all right and not to worry and not to think. And if there was one thing she never trusted… it was someone who told her not to think.

“Auntie Marge?”

“Yes, doll?”

“Was Grampa George sick?”

“Not that I know of.”

“Then how come he died?”

Marge sighed. “I don’t know.” She hadn’t known George well. She knew the General to be a kind man and a good CO to her niece but otherwise had very limited contact with him except at Jack’s house. Had Jack been right, she wondered. Marge kept that idea to herself as there was no sense in worrying Grace but she asked Daniel about it later… if he wondered sometimes if they should have all been more wary about the Aschen as Jack had suggested.

Daniel had put her off. He was still angry at Jack for leaving everyone. Especially Sam. He’d thought when he was let go that Jack would take the opportunity presented to him and talk Sam into marrying him but instead he’d simply walked away without a word to anyone at all. Had run away from his problems again instead of facing them.

“Jack is a paranoid old SOB, Marge. I wouldn’t trust his gut with what time of day it is at this point.” The one time he had tried to talk to Jack, he’d been on his dock drunk off his ass and had clearly been that way for several days.

“It just seems so odd. No one said anything about General Hammond being sick.” Marge said.

“Yah well… no one gets to pick when they die.” Daniel said philosophically and moved on to another conversation.

Grace finished out her school year still sullen. Sam had no real reason not to let her spend the summer with her father so when she got another request, she informed his attorney he had permission to come collect her for her summer break and when to return her.

Two weeks after Grace was settled in at her dad’s, an overnight letter came. It was from Sam. Marge had died in a car accident. It had been raining and her brakes had failed. She hated to ask him but could he please bring Grace back for the funeral. Jack called his attorney to agree. He wasn’t strictly invited but Marge had been kind to him and supportive of he and Sam being together.

Even so, he stayed in the back of church and was going back to the hotel to wait for the call to come get Grace if she wanted to go back to Minnesota with him. He was surprised when Sam grabbed him on her way out to the cemetery and hugged him fiercely.

“I’m sorry, Sam. I’m so sorry.” He told her and hugged her back. His eyes met Joe’s who nodded in acknowledgement. He knew, Jack realized. He knew how Jack felt, how Sam felt, and accepted it. Accepted their choice. Jack sighed. “I’m ah… I’m gonna head out... back to the hotel. Call me and let me know?” He asked Joe rather than Sam who was now standing miserably next to Joe.

Joe nodded. “This has spoiled her vacation enough already. If you don’t mind sticking around for a couple days, we’d appreciate it.” Joe told Jack.

“Yah, that’s fine. Just let me know.” Jack said and squeezed Sam’s shoulder before leaving.

* * *

The flight back was quiet. Jack didn’t know what to say to his daughter at all… and Sam… Sam had held him so tightly. He’d had to leave before he did or said something stupid. He’d stayed out of sight of anyone at George’s funeral. Only Daniel had seen him and Jack had pointedly shook his head not to acknowledge him when he spotted him.

If Jack had known what Marge had asked Daniel, he’d have been far more suspicious about Marge’s death. He still felt there was something off about it. Sam always made sure their cars were well maintained. She couldn’t be so busy that she neglected the simple task of checking her aunt’s car for needed repairs, would she? Jack couldn’t believe that of Sam at all and concluded it was a freak accident.

It was only Grace being there that kept Jack from sinking into depression at the back to back loss of his former commander and one of his best friends. Grace gave him a reason to get up in the morning and not spend what time he was awake drunk off his ass. He did hit his punching bag a bit more than usual though in frustration.

He kept thinking if he quit caring about people they would stop dying on him… but then Grace would give him a sad look with her hazel blue eyes and Jack couldn’t find the will power to reject his daughter… or her mother.

“Uncle Jack?”

“Yah kiddo.” Jack said absently as he flipped an omelet without beer for them.

“How come mom agreed to let me stay here all summer?”

“Because she knew we missed each other.”

“But you guys don’t talk any more.”

“No… I don’t suppose we do.”

“So how did she know?”

“I asked her.” He admitted.

“How come?”

“Because I missed you.”

Grace looked at Jack for a long time. Something about this didn’t quite add up. It was like when mom married Joe. It was just so all of a sudden and they had a baby right away even though she knew her mom had been in love with her uncle Jack. The pieces just didn’t seem to fit together right.

Jack watched the thoughts flit across his daughter’s face. He knew she was smart. Unusually smart. But she’d have to be very empathetic to put the pieces together any time soon.

“Uncle Jack?”

“Yah kiddo?”

“Are you my dad?”

Craaapppp… Jack thought and his face clearly must have betrayed him because Grace hopped down from her chair and wrapped her arms around his waist.

“I knew it.” She said triumphantly.

Jack stroked her hair fondly. “You probably shouldn’t tell your mom that you know.”

“Because of the Aschen.” Grace concluded.

Jack gave her a perplexed look. How the hell had she figured that out? “Yah… mostly that. Also I agreed a long time ago with your mom to let her be the one that told you when she thought you were ready to know the truth.”

“How come?”

Jack sighed as he sat. She was a bit young for this story so he’d have to whittle it down. “When I met your mom, I was in a bad place. Auntie Sara had just left me and I was very sad.”

“Because Charlie died.” She said. She knew this part of the story already.

Jack nodded. “I did something I’m not proud of but I’m not sad how it turned out because it gave me you.” He told her.

“And then later you met mom again and fell in love with her.”

Jack chuckled bitterly. “Yah, for a little while.”

“Okay.”

Jack looked at her a little surprised.

“It makes sense now, why you were always over.”

Jack snorted out a laugh. “Yah, I wasn’t exactly subtle.”


	5. Chapter 5

Things went as back to normal as they could at that point and Grace ended her summer with a smile for her dad when he hugged her goodbye.

Lucas toddled out to see his sister and because Joe’s hair was dark and wavy and had brown eyes and deep dimples similar to Jack’s, he didn’t even notice anything unusual about the boy. He was just Carter’s kid so Jack waved at the little boy, a little sad that Joe had the life Jack had wanted and left.

Grace couldn’t put her finger on it but whatever had bugged her about Joe before seemed amplified. He spent way too much time with the Aschen for Grace’s tastes. Her mom explained he was the diplomatic ambassador for the other world but Grace got the distinct impression that Joe’s loyalties were divided and she wasn’t so sure when push came to shove that he’d side with her mom on this. Mom had told her they decided to try to have another baby now that Lucas was a little older. With no Goa’uld to battle, Sam could fulfill her wish for a big family. Grace was all right with that. She loved her little brother. She just wished her family was Jack, her father, was married to her mom, not Joe.

It was a day Lucas was giggling at something silly Grace was doing to make him laugh that she stopped dead. Lucas looked like Charlie. And the only way for Lucas to look like Charlie was if Joe wasn’t Lucas’ dad, Jack, her dad was.

Grace didn’t know what to do. Dad clearly didn’t know. Was that why mom had married Joe so quickly? Did mom know? Had she been dating both at the same time? She did vaguely remember her mom going out with Joe a few times before dad left. Gracie had no idea her dad had been gone longer than she knew. Did that mean mom really didn’t know? Or did mom know and there was a reason she hadn’t told dad?

Unable to figure it out and lacking Marge or Teal’c to field her thought processes on, Grace was alone in this one. She decided she couldn’t talk to any of the adults about this… and now she was in the extremely distasteful position of listening to her little brother shout an excited ‘daddy!’ at Joe every time he came home from work and had to grit her teeth not to tell her little brother that’s not your daddy.

Grace went back to being sullen and combative in spite of Jack’s admonishments not to. By the time Spring came around, Sam was once again at her wit’s end.

“Catherine Grace, if you don’t stop arguing with me and your father at every turn, you will not be visiting your uncle this summer.” Sam said sharply to her daughter who was glaring at her over a basket of laundry.

“I don’t argue with my father. I argue with Joe. Because he’s wrong.” She shot back, her hands fisted at her waist.

“Young lady, you are seven not thirty. You will not speak of your stepfather that way.”

“Why not?” Grace challenged her.

“I just told you why.”

But Grace had an ace up her sleeve. She had found the court records about her custody. Her parents had joint custody. “You can’t stop me.”

“Oh yes I can.”

“Can’t!”

“I can and I will.”

“Fine. I’ll call dad’s attorney and tell him you’re violating the custody order.” Grace said triumphantly.

Sam’s eyes went very wide, her body stilled in shock. When had she? “Go to your room, young lady. We will discuss this later… And take that laundry with you.” She ordered, harshly.

Grace made a face at her but did as she as told. She knew she had won.

* * *

“Well, she probably was snooping while we were at work, Sam.” Joe told her reasonably.

“Do you think he knows she knows?”

“He will in a month.”

“I don’t think she should go.”

“Sam, you can’t punish her for being angry at you for lying to her. I mean, you can but you shouldn’t. She’s a smart kid. She was going to figure it out eventually.”

Sam sighed. “I suppose you’re right.”

“Course I’m right. Now let’s get back to that part about working on growing our family.” He said with a little grin and gathered her into his arms for a playful kiss.

Sam still wasn’t pregnant when Grace left with Jack. Grace had given her little brother a big hug and said she’d see him in a couple of months.

Grace, however, was already making plans otherwise. She wasn’t coming home this time. It was too hard to look her sweet trusting little brother in the eyes and lie to him about Joe being his dad. Joe had to know. That’s why they were trying to have another baby. Because so far all her mom’s kids were Jack’s.

She was caught in the middle of something not of her making. She couldn’t lie to her brother but she wasn’t about to tell her dad the truth. It would break his heart knowing for a second time, he had a child that he didn’t get to raise. But at least Lucas was alive. And Joe did love Lucas, Grace reasoned… even if he was in the Aschen’s pocket. He didn’t even seem to take it too personally that Grace didn’t really want him in her life. At least, mom got mad about it. Joe just kind of… accepted that Grace had decided not to like him.

If he cared, he’d be upset about it but all he seemed to care about was kissing Aschen butt.

* * *

“All right… out with it.”

“Out with what?” Grace asked him, her eyes wide with innocence.

Jack gave his daughter a perturbed look. He wasn’t falling for it.

Grace grimaced. She couldn’t very well tell him the truth so she told him a half truth. “I might have accidently told mom I know you’re my dad.”

“I see.” Was all Jack said.

“You aren’t mad?”

“Grace, part of keeping a confidence is not blurting it out to the person you were specifically told not to.” He smiled at her though. “You’re young though. You’ll get better at it.”

Grace huffed out a sigh. “I’m sorry, dad.”

“It’s all right. We should have told you sooner anyway. We did it to protect ourselves at the time.”

“Dad, were you still married to Aunt Sara when mom got pregnant with me?”

Jack nodded. “You’re old enough to ask so you’re old enough for the truth. She kicked me out and I told you the truth when I told you I don’t regret the consequences… but the Air Force might have seen things differently.” He pets Grace’s head for a moment while they walk. “Later we found out I’m kind of unique so it was pretty important to continue protecting your identity.”

“That’s why Grandpa Jacob ran that test on me, isn’t it?”

“What test?”

“He had a little plastic thing that looked like an egg and asked me to touch it. When I did, it glowed.”

Jack slapped his hand to his forehead.

“He wasn’t supposed to do that, was he?” She asked him innocently.

Jack shook his head. “The only reason I figure I’m still alive is he hasn’t been able to track me down.”

Grace giggled. “Daddy.”

Jack grinned. She very rarely called him that and he had to admit his heart did somersaults when she did.

“Grandpa loves you by the way.”

“Oh, he does, does he?”

“Uh huh. He told me so. Well... Selmak told me so. Grandpa tried to change the subject.”

Jack’s expression became pained. “Selmak… as in…”

“His symbiote.”

“I take it back. You can keep a secret just fine. Does your mother know about this?”

“He told me not to tell her.”

“But he neglected to tell you not to tell me.”

“No… he said only if it was really important.”

Jack nodded solemnly. He supposed at this point it probably was.

“Dad.”

“Yah, Peanut?”

“I talked to my teachers. I could go to school remotely as long as you supervise my class work.”

“Gracie, we’ve gone over this…”

“I don’t want to go back there, Dad. I hate it. I hate the Aschen. I hate that Joe just does anything they want and all mom does is go along with it and makes excuses for them and now they want another baby too.” She pleaded, almost whined.

Jack sighed. “Gracie, your mom won’t love you less if they have another baby. That didn’t happen when Lucas was born and it won’t happen now either sweetie.”

Gracie shook her head in denial, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes.

“Tell you what. Standing Beaver said he’d continue your trapping lessons this week. If you want, I’ll ask him about food gathering in the woods, too.”

“Did his Great-Grandpa really know your Great-Grandpa?”

“Oh yah. They were good friends. His Grandpa told me once that his dad used to trick my Great-Grandpap out of his money all the time. He ran a little ‘get to know the natives’ class for the new people in town so he always knew everything that was going on around town. Great Grandpap got some great stories out of him and Standing Beaver still gets royalties on the books Grandpap wrote about his family.”

He crouched to look at a blurred track. “What have we got?”

“Fox.” She said, as she mimicked his posture.

He nodded. “You can tell by the scent markers and scat too...”

“Carnivores stink.” Gracie said.

“That’s right.” He agreed. “What else?”

“They follow the herbivore trails so there’s probably bunny tracks too.” She looked up at him expectantly.

Jack smiled. “Correct.”

“Dad?”

“Yah, Peanut?”

“Would things be different if it wasn’t for the Aschen?”

“Depends on what you mean.” He told her, standing up.

“I mean between you and mom. If Joe hadn’t come along, would you and mom be together?”

Jack sighed. “Because of our jobs, we couldn’t be.”

“I don’t think that’s fair.” Gracie sulked.

Jack squeezed her shoulder. “Lots of things in life aren’t fair, kiddo. Sometimes we just have to deal with the situation at hand and hope for the best.”

“If you could change it, would you?”

Jack thought for along moment. “Ideally, yes I would change it.” He admitted to her.

Gracie nodded and filed that information away, not realizing yet how important this conversation would be to them both later.

“Let’s go make some lunch and then we can get a little fishing in before the sun goes down.” Jack suggested.

“Can we make a bonfire?”

“Of course.” He told her as though that had been the plan all along.

* * *

The rest of summer passed quietly for them as the days slipped past one by one. Gracie still did not want to return home but Jack got her to grudgingly concede that even though she could take her classes remotely her mom would miss her and she needed help taking care of Lucas now that Marge was gone.

Gracie had not approved of his logic as she subconsciously registered it as being emotionally manipulative but fortunately she’d been unable to articulate the reason his perfectly reasonable logic made her give him the hairy eyeball.

“Be good for your mom.” Jack told her gruffly, as he stopped the car in from of Sam’s and Joe’s house. Jack got out of the car and walked around to open Gracie’s door.

Gracie sighed but didn’t get out.

“Sweetie, you know how much I love you. Your mom loves you too and she needs you right now. We’ll see each other in a few months. I promise.” He’d never try to convince her Joe loved her too even though Jack knew the man did love his daughter in spite of her difficult attitude about him. Gracie would have to figure that out on her own.

Gracie’s eyes welled up at the mention of her beloved auntie. Kneeling down by the door, Jack reached in and tugged her into his arms. “C’mere.” He said softly and let her cry on him in the driveway for several moments. Joe was standing discreetly at the door for them. Sam was nowhere to be seen but he was expecting that. He and Joe nodded at each other in understanding.

Gracie let out a shuddering sigh. “Can I call you?”

Jack smiled. “Sure.” He’d conceded that point that Sam and Joe could have his phone number so Gracie could call any time she needed to talk to him. Jack made a point of keeping his cell phone on him from that point on. They didn’t have his land line and the number he gave Grace last year was a burner number just in case. Teal’c had it and no one else. Not even Daniel who he missed but he knew the other man had not forgiven him for running out on Sam in his eyes.

Gracie got reluctantly out of the truck and walked shoulders and head down to the house.

Jack humped her bags in. “Need a hand?” Joe asked him.

“Nah, I got this.” Jack told him without rancor. He didn’t hate the guy even if he was married to the woman Jack would never stop being in love with.

Neither of them brought up Sam who once again avoided seeing Jack. Joe knew his wife and he respected that Jack didn’t push the issue even though he probably had every right to do so knowing how they both felt. Sam would never really stop loving Jack but she did love Joe as much as she was able and they were good for each other emotionally. He’d told her the truth when she’d asked if they had done the right thing. In his opinion, Jack and Sam weren’t healthy for each other. Jack at least seemed to get that and moved on. That’s why he kept contact to bare minimum and only as related to what Joe thought was Jack’s oldest child. Joe wasn’t sure if Gracie had said anything about her thoughts about Lucas but he was fairly certain Jack would demand a paternity test if she had said anything.

“How was she?”

“Good… Sad. She misses Margie.”

“We all miss Aunt Marge.”

Jack nodded in agreement. “Tell Carter thank you for me.” Jack said almost sadly. His look haunted for some reason other than the realization that she was avoiding him. Joe noted something was bothering the other man but neither of them brought it up.

“I will. Thank you, Jack. It means a lot that you take the time to spend with her.”

Jack flashed a grin. “Even if she wasn’t mine, I’d still love her like she is, Joe.” He said simply and left.

Joe honestly wasn’t sure if the other man had meant Gracie or Sam.


	6. Chapter 6

Gracie managed to get through most of the school year without any obvious outbursts. She was not... as her father would say… a happy camper but at least she wasn’t acting up. Of course, this should have made everyone immediately suspicious that she was up to something but Sam and Joe were so relieved that she seemed to have finally adjusted that they ignored the warning signs until the inevitable phone call.

“Oh god.” Sam moaned, feeling sick.

“What is it?” Janet asked her, walking in on Sam for their planned lunch together. Janet had less and less to do with her time and Sam was working out the mathematics on how to convert Jupiter into a second sun to extend the growing season on Earth. Without Jack there to question _why_ you would even want to do such a thing considering they wasted half the food Earth produces as it is, Sam didn’t even consider how that might affect Earth’s eco-system at all.

“Gracie left school. Joe says she didn’t come home and no one seems to know where she is.” Sam said, her voice shaking.

“Well, we might not know where she is, but we know where she’s going.” Janet said reasonably.

“Oh god, you don’t think?”

“Sam, she’s been far too reasonable for her not to be up to something and if she was going to go anywhere, it’s to him. Call him.” Janet ordered her best friend.

Sam nodded miserably. She’d had a number for him since the first summer at his cabin as she’d made it a condition of letting Gracie go. She knew it was just a burner number on a cheap phone he could toss in the lake at any moment but she scrolled through her contacts on her personal cell anyway. She knew if the caller ID came up work he’d never answer. If it was her number… hopefully he’d know it was an emergency. It rang five times before he finally answered it sounding groggy and… hung over.

“O’Neill.” He grumbled.

“Jack! Sir!” She said together in a rush. “It’s Gracie. She took off from school and no one can find her.”

“Okay, wait, slow down, she’s missing? How?”

“We don’t know.” Sam admitted miserably. “She just left school without saying anything and took off. I don’t know if someone grabbed her or talked her into going or—”

“All right, slow down, Carter. I have some people that can help me track her down. Just… take a deep breath and I’ll call you back in a couple hours once I know something. It will be okay. I’ll find her.”

Sam nodded fast then realized he couldn’t see her. “Promise?”

“Always, Carter. Always.” He assured her before hanging up. “Dammit, kid… where are you?” He knew damn well no one had taken her. She’d taken off and was probably headed here. Jack called Standing Beaver. “Big Brother, I have a request.”

“My brother, I would help you but I am in Denver visiting family.” The tall Sioux told Jack.

“Actually, I’m glad you’re in Denver. That’s probably as far as she’s gotten on her own.”

“Who?”

“Gracie. She took off. She’s probably headed here but no one can find her.”

“I will find Little Star, Brother.” He assured Jack.

“She’s smart.” Jack mused. “She’ll know to avoid any cops as she’s not lost in her opinion. But she might at least trust you.” He sighed as he scrubbed his face with his hand. “Her mom is frantic. I’ll get a flight down as quickly as I can. Hell, she might be at the airport for all I know trying to buy a ticket with her allowance money.”

“Can your friend Teal’c help you track her?” Standing Beaver asked Jack.

“I don’t know how to get a hold of him anymore. I don’t think he’s even on the planet now.” Jack admitted sadly.

“My family will help. I will see you soon.”

“Yah.” Jack sad sadly and hung up. “Where are you, kid? I thought you understood you need to say put.” Jack growled to himself. He shook his head and called the airline number he now knew by rote to get a flight to Denver.

* * *

Gracie ducked behind a column when she saw the cop. She figured her mom would start looking for her eventually. She had walked with families so it would look like she was just another kid with that family when she’d changed buses then sat alone so no one would say anything. One family had even offered to buy her lunch at the diner next to the bus stop when they saw she was alone. She was asked where she was going and she had told the family she was going home to her dad’s. Of course she’d utterly lied and said she’d been visiting a family friend in the Springs rather than admit she was running away from home. The family had semi doubted her story but she’d described her mom’s friend, Janet, in thorough detail and her itinerary that their suspicions were allayed to what kind of lazy family sends a kid off on her own like that in this day and age. But she had a pre-printed ticket she’d run off at a friend’s house with their parent’s credit card. She’d left money in her friend’s mom’s wallet to make up what she’d used with a note saying she bought a gift for her mom and wanted it to be a surprise and the website only took credit cards. They were the kind of parents that didn’t really check things so by the time anyone figured it out she’d be long gone at her dad’s hopefully.

Gracie did worry that everyone would figure out where she was going. She also worried her dad would send her right back home. And it wasn’t that she didn’t love her mom, she did. She didn’t even really dislike Joe as much as she acted like she did. But her dad was right not to trust those off-worlders. There was something wrong with them. Something she was unable to put her finger on but she knew it was wrong. When aunt Janet had tried to talk to them about solving poverty issues, they just kind of chuckled at her and said it would solve itself in a generation or two.

Aunt Janet and her mom had been in the living room talking about it while she played with Lucas in the sunroom and eavesdropped. Why would the Aschen laugh about generations of poverty? They had all this technology -- why wouldn’t they help us now? Standing Beaver had told her about the poverty on the reservation his family had lived on for generations. Sometimes there was no food. Sometimes there wasn’t running water. Dad did what he could to help but he was only one guy. No one else seemed to care.

The cops passed her location without spotting her. Gracie eased around the column and stayed out of sight. The next bus was in forty minutes. She just needed to avoid detection until it got here and then she was safe for a couple more hours until the next bus.

Little did she know that Standing Beaver had easily figured out her game plan having taught her himself.

Gracie got on her bus without incident. When she tiredly got off at the next stop and headed for the terminal, a large brown hand descended on her shoulder. “Little Star, your father is very worried for you,” said the warm familiar voice.

Gracie startled only imperceptibly and Standing Beaver smiled to himself. She was a good learner. She would serve her people well just as her parents had, but first she must learn the lesson of obedience.

“ _Thee’augud Hepes_!” Gracie said his name in Arapaho like he taught her, both startled and yet… not. “You scared me!”

“And you have frightened your parents, Little Star.” He told her, his tone serious, his aging face severe in his disappointment in her.

“I’m sorry, Standing Beaver, but I can’t stay there. Those people are bad.” She said of the Aschen, having decided not to speak their name in case she’s being listened to.

“They frighten me too, _Hauguuhauthau_ , but it is wrong to disobey our elders. Did not Running Deer tell you to stay with your mother until the summer comes again?” He said, speaking of the name his family had given Jack.

“But daddy knows they are bad people too! He ran away!”

Standing Beaver sighed. “Come. It is time to return.”

“I don’t want to.” She said mutinously and crossed her arms over her small chest defiantly. Standing Beaver simply stared at her until she sighed in defeat and her shoulders dropped. “It’s not fair.” She whined.

“Little in life is fair, Little Star, but you are too young to defy your father just yet.”

“It’s not him.” She said with a pout.

“I know, _nebii'o'oo_ , but we must all try to do what is right first and what we want second.” He said, leading her back to his aging Buick. The door creaked when he opened it.

“Aunt Margie’s car never squeaked even though it was old. Mom always took really good care of it. At least until the accident.”

“When was this?”

“Last summer. I don’t get it. There shouldn’t have been anything wrong with her car at all. Mom is a really good mechanic.”

Standing Beaver glanced at the little girl in his care and got a sinking feeling about what might have really happened. He wondered if Running Deer suspected this as well. He flipped open his phone and hit the speed dial number for Jack’s burner phone. Voice mail picked up right away. “Your father is on his way to Colorado to ensure you arrive home safely.” He told Gracie and dialed Sam’s number from memory.

“Faxon residence.” A male voice said when the phone picked up.

“Are you the lifemate of Samantha Carter?”

“Am I… what? Yes. Who is this?”

“My name is Standing Beaver. I am a family friend of the one you call Jack. His daughter is safe with me. I will return her to your home soon. We are in Denver.”

Joe let out a whooshing sigh of relief. “Thank you. Thank you for finding her. Do you need the address?”

“I do not. Jack has given me all necessary information. He is currently en route to Colorado to ensure she returns to your home.”

“Oh god, thank you. Thank you so much.”

“It is as your people say… no problem.” Standing Beaver told the other man and hung up.

“Your step-father is worried for you.” He informed Gracie.

“Yah right.” Gracie muttered from the back seat.

“Little Star.” Standing Beaver said sharply. “In your mind, he does not care for you because you do not care for him, but I am not in your mind so I see the truth. He was concerned for your safety. We all were. You must promise me on your honor, you will not run away again.”

Gracie scowled. She knew he’d said that way intentionally. He and her father had drilled honor into her since she was little like Buddhist monks or Samurai. If she went back on her word after this promise, she shamed her family, herself, and a man she adores as much as an uncle as she does Uncle Danny and Uncle Teal’c. “Oh, all right fine. I won’t run away again.” She huffed.

Standing Beaver sighed. A promise made in duress will inevitably be broken. He must speak to the girl’s mother and appeal to her good sense.

The rest of the ride back to Colorado Springs was quiet.

* * *

“You don’t think he kidnapped her, do you?” Joe asked Sam of Standing Beaver.

Sam shook her head miserably but emphatically no. “He’s too much like Teal’c. He wouldn’t do that. Not even for Jack.” She told her husband. Lucas was curled up at her side, fussy because his mother had been crying, first with fear and then with relief.

“All right. I’ll call the CSPD and tell them a family friend tracked her down and is returning her home.” He said simply and squeezed her shoulder on the way by to the other room, from his pocket he grabbed the card the lead detective had given him,

Sam let out a shuddering sigh. Her baby was safe but why did she keep acting this way? She’d never kept Gracie from her father. She could have called him to talk any time she wanted, she didn’t need to run away.

An hour later, a decrepit Buick with fading beige paint pulled up in her driveway. Sam fretted about waiting at the door or not. Lucas had fallen asleep on the couch. Finally she gave up and ran to the door and pulled it open. Gracie was just reaching the porch. Sam grabbed the girl’s shoulders and pulled her into a hug. “Are you all right? We were so worried!”

Gracie just shrugged. “I’m fine, mom.” She said, looking away, frustrated tears she refused to shed in her eyes.

“Go inside and get washed up.”

“Okay.” The girl said simply before she sullenly walked into the house.

Sam looked up at Standing Beaver. He was almost as tall as Jack but had about ten years on him and was sparse of frame. His kind dark eyes looked down on her with concern. “Come on in. There’s coffee.”

Standing Beaver nodded. “Thank you, Samantha.”

They had never technically met. Jack had told each about the other. First when he’d gone fishing alone he’d complained that he wished she’d just relax and join him, that it didn’t have to be a date if she just wanted to hang out. Standing Beaver had kept his own counsel on what he’d thought of Jack’s offer of fishing to Samantha and why he kept offering. He did the same with why she never accepted. He called Jack ‘brother’ because his father had adopted Jack as part of the tribe when his parents had died. He had told Jack’s grandparents that he still needed a father even if he only saw him every couple of months and that had been that. Jack had become part of Standing Beaver’s family. Their families had been friends for generations anyway so it had been a natural transition. Jack’s defacto uncle became his father by heart.

When he passed the sleeping toddler, Standing Beaver hid his expression well. It was obvious the child’s father was his brother. He looked exactly as Charlie had at that age. Standing Beaver now understood why Gracie had run away. She knew the truth and was afraid she’d blurt it out at the wrong time in anger. Like her father, anger often motivated her telling unfortunate facts and she knew this of herself. Jack simply controlled the impulse better. Gracie rarely got angry at her father however and felt ‘safe’ about the truth in his presence.

Sam handed Standing Beaver a cup of coffee and put out the cream and sugar.

“Just black is fine. Take a walk with me, Samantha. I wish to discuss this with you privately.”

Sam looked up at him in concern. Whatever it was, he didn’t want her husband to know. Was it something about Jack? Sam hid her worry and nodded. “There’s a park a quarter mile from the house.” She said. “I’ll get my coat.”

Standing Beaver set down his coffee untouched. He preferred tea.

Once they were away from the house, Standing Beaver finally spoke. “Gracie is afraid of these star people, Samantha.”

“She has no reason to be. They have never done anything to give her reason to be.”

Standing Beaver shrugged. “Nevertheless, she and Jack both fear them. I fear them as well.”

Sam shook her head. “None of you has any reason to.” She insisted.

“Who can explain why one is afraid of that which seems harmless? My sister Soft Rain fears spiders.” He said reasonably.

Sam nodded. She grasped that people often had unreasonable phobias though she didn’t have any of her own.

“Is it not possible Jack sees something in the star people which others cannot? Or choose not to?”

“It’s possible, Standing Beaver, but it’s not likely.”

“You always trusted his instincts before. Why have you stopped?”

“He’s not my commanding officer, Standing Beaver. I don’t have to just do what he says simply because he says to do it.”

“Was that truly the only reason you trusted him?” Standing Beaver asked her pointedly. When she opened her mouth, he waved her off though. He didn’t want her admission or denial. He knew Jack was still in love with her. It would be better, however, if she did not feel the same way as she’d married another. “Gracie cannot help her fear, Samantha.”

“And how do I know Jack didn’t put that idea in her head.” Sam demanded.

“You know him better than that.” Was all Standing Beaver said.

And she did. She was ashamed that she ever thought otherwise. She knew Jack better than she knew anyone else, even Daniel or Joe or Janet. He was the only one who had never held any of himself back from her even when he’d been trying to protect his heart from being hurt again.

“I don’t know how to reassure her.” Sam admitted.

“Perhaps that is not the answer.”

Sam’s face hardened. “If the only reason you’re talking to me about this is to give Jack what he wants the answer is no.”

Standing Beaver smiled kindly. “Jack is unaware I am discussing this with you. In fact I believe he will be angry with me for some time for… as he would say… sticking my big honking nose in his business.”

Sam snorted in amusement. Both because it was something Jack would say and because Standing Beaver had an impressively aristocratically large nose. “I’ve always wondered about your name. It seems familiar.”

“I was named for my great-grandfather who was great friends with Jack’s great-grandfather. I am glad I was not named for my grandfather.”

When he didn’t elaborate, Sam finally took the bait. “What was his name?”

“Bear Penis.” Standing Beaver told her with a straight face.

Sam stifled a snort of mirth until Standing Beaver grinned. “You’re making that up.” She accused him.

“I am not but I still enjoy using it as a joke. Samantha. Life is frightening enough for children. You know she will be safe with her father and I will watch over her as well.”

Sam sighed. “What about her education? She can’t just run off into the woods and… I’m sorry… that came out badly.”

He smiled kindly at her. “Jack will not allow her education to slide. You know he is more intelligent than he acts.”

Sam shook her head. “This feel like rewarding her for her bad choices.”

“Perhaps because in some way it is, but she will feel safer with him and are her feelings less important than your own?” He asked her pointedly.

Sam bit her lip. Her own parents would have argued about this, but her mother would eventually have gotten her way. And her mom would have advocated for Gracie feeling safe above Sam’s feelings over her own dad’s insistence for obedience. Her shoulders slumped. “I don’t like that you’re right.” She admitted.

“We will keep her safe from harm, Samantha. I give you my word.”

Sam nodded absently. She knew he meant it. So did Jack. For all his flaws, Joe was right. She could trust her former lover with the safety and care of their child. She just felt something was being ripped away and nothing would ever go back to the way it was. “Keep him safe too.” She said quietly.

“He is my brother. That is my responsibility already.” Standing Beaver said simply and they turned around and headed back to the house.

* * *

Jack showed up to a very subdued home. Joe had taken Lucas upstairs. It hadn’t gone unnoticed by him that the boy was the spitting image of his natural father now and Joe worried about how Jack might react given the situation. Sam had talked to him and informed him of her decision about Grace after they got back. He’d miss his stepdaughter but he thought perhaps the tall Native American was right. That Gracie would feel safer with her dad and, who knows, perhaps the defiance and outbursts would finally end with her feeling safe.

“Is she all right?” Jack asked first when Sam opened the door.

Sam nodded sadly.

“Are you okay?” He asked her gently taking her elbows in his hands and searching her eyes.

Sam nodded miserably and stumbled into his heartfelt hug. At first, Jack was surprised. The last time they had embraced was at Margie’s funeral the previous summer. But Jack was privately happy that he could have her in his arms this one time. They stood there, holding each other with both relief and regret for a long moment. Finally when Jack shivered with the cold, Sam drew away. “Come inside.” She told him sadly.

Gracie now sat next to Standing Beaver, leaning on him for emotional support. Joe stood in the corner looking impeccably dressed as always. Jack knew he looked like a bumpkin in comparison in his fading corduroy jacket, faded baggy jeans, and three days of stubble. Sam led him into the living room and motioned him to have a seat while she paced.

Jack sat quietly, his body naturally on alert, as he looked at Standing Beaver to ask with his eyes if Gracie was really all right. The other man gave him an imperceptible nod and an encouraging smile.

“I’ve… um… well… that is to say…” Sam started.

Jack shook his head. “Sam. I’m sorry. This won’t happen again. Gracie, you can’t just take off—” But Joe cut him off.

“No one is blaming you, Jack. She came up with this on her own.” At Jack’s sharp look, Joe gave him an easy then settle down gesture. “Sam has something she wants to say.” It was an admonishment but a relatively gentle one. They both loved Sam, just in different ways.

Sam huffed out a sigh. “I hate to admit it, but Gracie will be happier with you, Jack. I’ll have my attorney submit paperwork for primary custody. If she wants to visit us, she can…” Sam said sadly. There was a high probability Gracie would refuse to see them for quite a while. “She can call us and I’ll arrange a flight home.”

“Sam, you don’t have to—”

“No, Jack, I do. She’s miserable here and even I can see that. A year or two of remote learning won’t hurt her. I know you’ll make sure she keeps up on her classes.” Sam admitted to him.

Jack looked down at his hands clasped in his lap. He’d be able to protect her. He couldn’t protect Sam. She’d made her choices but he could protect their daughter. Sam was trusting him to be a good father. He wasn’t sure he deserved it. Not after Charlie. Not after the way Gracie had been acting. “You don’t have to do this, Sam.” He said softly.

“She doesn’t feel safe here, Jack.” Sam told him just as softly. They looked at each other and had a long conversation with their eyes. Trust, regret, disappointment, love that could now never be.

He nodded sadly. “All right.” He told her.

* * *

A couple hours later after Gracie had hugged her little brother goodbye she suspected for the last time ever, they stood by Standing Beaver’s Buick. “Are you sure that thing will make it?” Sam asked of the car.

“It only looks bad. Jack takes good care of our vehicles.”

Sam frowned deeply. She’d thought the same of Auntie Marge’s car and look what had happened there. “All right.” She said, her voice shaking only slightly with worry and sadness.

Standing Beaver gives Sam the reassuring hug Jack wishes he was entitled to.

“I’ll call you when we get to a hotel.” Jack told Sam and Joe. Gracie’s clothing, schoolbooks, and handful of belongings were already packed in the trunk. Jack and Standing Beaver had packed only a change of clothing each for the mad dash to Colorado Springs when they learnt Gracie was missing.

“Drive safe.” Joe told them and hugged Gracie who tolerated the contact. The baby monitor in his pocket went off. “Ma’ma!” A little voice wailed. “I’ll get him.” Joe said.

Whenever Jack was at the house, either Joe or Sam would stay with the baby in another room. Even Sam had noticed how much Lucas looks like his father though she hadn’t made the mental connection that this might be part of what Gracie was running from. She was too wrapped up in her own pain to see the truth of her daughter’s.

Standing Beaver nodded as he got into the driver’s seat while Sam said her goodbyes.

“Be good, Gracie. Mind your father. Don’t take off again.”

“I won’t.” The sullen tone now gone from her voice. Sam hurt deeply. She couldn’t keep her own daughter happy.

Sam looked into Jack’s eyes, searching for something that shouldn’t be there but was. She sighed as she took another step back – away from him. “Be careful.” Was all she said to him.

“We will.” He assured her, wishing he could hug her one last time. He knew it would be a long time before they saw each other again.

Gracie pulled away from her mom and got into the back seat of the car, pulling the door firmly closed. She watched her parents while they talked. “Why aren’t they honest with each other?” She asked Standing Beaver of her parent’s miserable expressions.

“Adult emotions are complicated, Little Star. They are trying their best.”

She crossed her arms over her chest and watched as her dad’s hands slipped into his pockets and his shoulders drooped as he turned away from her mother. If he’d just told her mom he loved her, none of them would be miserable, she thought. Having no idea her dad already had done so and it wasn’t enough.

Jack kept his word about calling Sam and Joe when they got to the hotel and again when they got to his cabin. Standing Beaver stayed the night. After Gracie fell asleep, he addressed his concerns to Jack as they sat outside, a bonfire blazing in front of them for warmth.

“I do not think Marge’s death was an accident.” He told Jack.

Jack stared into the fire for a long time. “Yah… I know.”

“Why did you not say anything?”

“What good would it do?” Jack asked him.

Standing Beaver thought for a long moment. Could Sam walk away at this point? From any of her decisions? Probably not. She too was trapped. The only difference was the cage was of her own making.


	7. Chapter 7

Jack made sure Gracie called her mom as often as he could. He only enforced the issue when it came to birthdays -- her own, her mother’s, and Joe’s. She was better about talking to her little brother than her parents. She was always sad after speaking to him but when asked, she insisted she did not want to go home, even for a visit.

Eventually Jack gives up trying to get Gracie to call her mom regularly and talking her into seeing her. At first, he just makes sure she takes the phone when her mom calls her which is at least once a week. Most of the time, Gracie does take the phone from her father. She doesn’t want her mom to think her Dad is responsible for her not calling. Sometimes she pretends she’s outside. Jack tries to spare Carter’s feelings when Gracie does that. He could feel the disappointment in the voice of the woman who he had thought loved him, knowing it was because their daughter could barely tolerate any contact with her. Eventually Sam gives up trying so hard and the phone calls spread out to a couple times a month… then even less frequently.

Sam was never the type to give up on someone but Gracie has made up her mind. Her grades are good; she only needs light intervention from her dad to complete her assignments. All of her teachers are happy to record her lessons for her and let her complete them in whatever timetable she’s happy with. Gracie blows through her classes as several of them are prerecorded from previous years due to the school catering to foreign nationals whose kids aren’t physically at the school more often than not. By the end of the school year, she’s advanced another grade level. She’s doing middle school work and above. Jack just rolls with it.

A couple years had passed. Standing Beaver still visited Jack and Gracie but his grandfather was having health problems so he was in Denver more often than not for now. Jack missed his oldest friend. Hell, he missed everyone but he wasn’t going back. That chapter of his life was closed. The government sometimes called him about accepting this award or that award but he not so politely declined each time. He didn’t want their awards. He wanted his life back and he couldn’t have it so screw all of them.

The relationship between Grace and her mother had dramatically changed. Carter rarely tried to call her daughter these days.

Jack sighed into his coffee while he stood on his dock. He’d go fishing today. Then watch some baseball. Gracie wanted to go on a hike this evening. So they would do that too.

She was quiet now. More meditative than the chatty little girl he’d help raise. She’d lost too much he supposed. He had been chatty as a kid too until his folks had died. Then he’d been introspective and sullen for a few years, caused trouble, then eventually made something of himself. Sara had been something of a fluke. He’d flirted with her casually for weeks at the theater they both worked at. When he’d been sent off to Nam, she’d promised to write him and had. Some time during those letters they had fallen for each other and ended up getting married after his tour in hell was over. Officer school had been easier on her. The black ops days had… not. He figured their relationship was doomed either way.

He supposed he should try moving on. Sara had been a tough act to follow and Sam a tougher one. Thankfully, Gracie seemed uninterested in pushing him to get over her mom. He wasn’t sure if it was because she secretly harbored some idealistic hope one day her mom would realize she’d made a horrible mistake or if she just really respected her dad’s feelings. Either way it was nice not to be nagged about meeting someone.

Gracie bounded through the yard with her usual gazelle-like grace. “Hey dad, we still on for a hike and a bonfire?”

Jack chuckled. “Sure, kiddo.” He told her.

“Great! I’m going to walk to town and get some yarn.” She told him clearly already dressed for her walk.

“Just take your bike.” He reminded her that she did not, in fact, have to walk everywhere here.

“I like walking. Besides, I need a new inner tube for my back tire. It’s flat again.”

“Next time try telling me so I can just fix it.” Jack said tiredly.

“It’s no big deal.” She told him and left for the store.

Knitting was the one hobby she had learned from her mom that she clung to. And the not wanting to be a bother thing unnerved him. She was his kid. She was supposed to be a bother. It’s what kids did. He didn’t worry about her walking the mile and a half to the local K-Mart. They only had half a dozen neighbors and no one came up here but them. She’d know someone that didn’t belong immediately. She knew how to disappear into the trees too. Daniel had once called him a paranoid SOB but paranoid SOBs stay alive. Something Daniel wasn’t especially good at.

Jack busies himself getting out his fishing gear. An unfamiliar car pulls up into his driveway and he ignores it. It was always lost tourists anyway. Or campers looking for directions or permission to camp on his land. He asked if he had permission to let his kid riddle their asses with arrows. They usually left in a huff and Gracie’s tinkling laughter that was so like her mother and aunt’s.

“Jack.” A familiar voice said.

Jack didn’t even turn around. “If you brought beer, great. If not, go get beer or don’t come back.”

A cold six pack dangled in front of him. It was cheap swill but it was beer.

“There’s a lawn chair on the porch.” Jack told the other man whom he hadn’t seen in years.

Taking what little invitation he was going to get, Daniel retrieved a chair and sat down on the dock next to Jack. “Where’s Gracie?”

“K-Mart.” Jack said noncommittally.

“By herself?”

“It’s a hick town in the middle of nowhere, Danny. That’s kind of the point of being here.”

Daniel sighed. “Her mom misses her.”

“I can’t force her to have a relationship with her mom, Danny. I’ve tried.” Jack admitted as he took a long swallow of beer, grimaced then drank more in spite of the taste. Ever since Grace came to live with him, Jack realized he wasn’t drinking often and didn’t miss the taste of cheap beer.

Daniel sat and debated with himself. Lucas clearly wasn’t Joe’s kid. “So….”

Jack gave Daniel an unflappable look.

“How are things going?”

Jack just shrugged. “The fish hate me. Gracie is fine. Thanks for the beer.” He said, saluting him with the can.

Daniel took it as the dismissal it was. “The five year anniversary is coming up.”

“Don’t care.” Jack said dismissively.

“Everyone misses you.”

“That’s nice.” Jack’s smile was tight but still disinterested.

“Jack…”

“Daniel.”

“Jack.”

“Daniel.” Jack growled firmly, no longer in the mood for games.

“So no?”

“Now you’re catching on.” Jack told him.

Daniel sighed and left without telling Jack that he really needed to talk to Sam about his son.

Jack sat on his dock knowing Daniel had wanted to tell him something and he’d successfully irked the other man into leaving instead. Good. There was nothing about the world outside of his little corner that he had any desire to know about at all.


	8. Chapter 8

2010 rolled around for Jack and Gracie with little fanfare. They watched the ball drop, hugged, said they loved each other and went to bed. They were bored and tired of the Aschen fan service commercials in between the music acts. Jack had never really liked parties anyway. He was just as socially awkward as Sam and Daniel were, just in a different way.

Gracie didn’t care. It had been a long time since she’d been the frightened little girl who had run away from home because she was certain the Aschen had murdered her aunt and honorary grandfather. She didn’t even think about it anymore. She focused on school and learning anything she could about survival from Standing Beaver and her Dad.

Dad seemed… content. She’d realized some time ago. Like he’d never really gotten over mom, but he was at peace with her choices now that he didn’t have to see Joe every spring when school ended. Her mom had stopped trying to convince her she needed to visit. She didn’t think it was because her mom respected her choices either. She was pretty sure her mom had just given up trying to make up to her. Dad never pushed the issue, only said it was her decision in that combination of understanding and disappointment in her that he used for those rare times it came up. Understanding because they still couldn’t talk to each other either and disappointment that she wasn’t made of better stuff than her chicken parents.

It wasn’t important enough to her to do something about either situation though. Living with her mom had her constantly on edge. She’d had to watch everything she said because the issues were right in front of her daily. Everything from the Aschen to her mother not telling her dad Lucas was his son. Once in a while that bothered her but not enough to say anything to him about it, knowing it would only break his heart.

Plus Lucas had no idea Joe wasn’t his real dad. She couldn’t break her little brother’s heart that way.

She knew her mom hadn’t had any more kids but didn’t tell dad that. Joe being defective would just figure. They could have all been living here at the cabin safe and happy. Her mom was the problem.

Early summer had hit Minnesota like a soft hug and Jack was sitting on his dock the morning Sam had shown up. Grace heard the car and when she saw her mom she hid inside the house, knowing that her mom wouldn’t come in even if dad invited her.

Gracie listened to her mom prattle on about having never been there and saw her glance hopefully at the windows to see if her daughter was around but Jack didn’t bring it up so Sam didn’t either. She listened as mom told dad she was infertile and dad say he was sorry with regret in his voice. He knew she’d always wanted a big family. So had he.

After dad put her mom off for bothering to show up and try to convince him they could change the past, Gracie had gone to the front of the house to watch her mom drive off with tears in her eyes, clearly thinking she’d failed to get through to the man she’d once loved.

Gracie headed out the back door to find her dad standing in the yard with a sad thoughtful look on his face. She sighed. If mom was right… and she probably was, they could fix this, undo everything that had gone wrong the last few years.

“Dad?”

“Yah kiddo?”

“Why did you tell her no”

“Because she’s dreaming that’s why. Things aren’t going the way she wants so she wants them to go back to the way they were except they can’t. It doesn’t work that way.”

“She still loves you.”

Jack just shook his head at his daughter. “It doesn’t matter, Gracie. She made her choices. I’ve lived with them for six years.”

“Dad…”

“Gracie… it doesn’t matter.”

“It does, dad.” Gracie’s voice trembled, insistence in the three words.

He gave her a frustrated look knowing he’d ask anyway. “Okay, so what don’t I know that I need to?”

“You already know if mom thinks she can send a message back she can… but that’s not the part you need to know.”

He gave her a patient look. “They gave me the shots too. Mom might not be the only one who can’t have kids.”

Jack’s expression turned sick. His daughter might have been denied the chance at a family before she’d even made that choice for herself. At first he was angry with Sam for not getting his permission first before remembering there wasn’t a medical consent requirement in the custody papers and kicking himself for not thinking of it. But it was his daughter that was currently the main focus of his thoughts.

“Dad… if she fixes this, we can be a family again… You and mom, me… Lucas.”

Jack started to open his mouth, looked perplexed then resigned as he began to comprehend his daughter’s words and shut his mouth with a deep frown. “Joe isn’t Lucas’ dad.” He finally said. It wasn’t a question.

Gracie just shook her head.

Jack sighed. It was a long moment before he spoke. “I should probably go after her, shouldn’t I?”

Gracie just looked at him, willing him to make the right choice here.

Jack shook his head. “She fixes this… everything goes back to the way it was?”

Gracie nodded. “All of it, dad.”

Jack chews on the inside of his cheek for a bit. “Fine. I’ll go.”

“I’m coming too.” She told him.

“Oh no. You’re staying here, young lady.”

“Dad… I’m going with you.”

“Gracie.” His tone was a warning but Gracie was just as stubborn as he is.

“I want my life back too, Dad. I miss us being a family” She said, her voice pleading.

“The one time I wish you were like your mother you turn out to be like me.” Jack muttered. “Fine. Get your coat. It’s a long drive.”

“We aren’t flying?”

Jack shook his head. “You know better than that.”

“They can’t check on you if they don’t know where you are. We’re sleeping in the car?”

“Yup.” He agreed. His shoulders firmed under his flannel shirt. Once he’d made a decision… he stuck to it.

They quickly gathered their things and got into his aging truck. Jack didn’t bother to lock up. They wouldn’t be coming back if Sam was right. The last six years wouldn’t have even happened for them.

The ride back to the Springs was quiet. They were comfortable in each other’s silences but the drive was tense. There were things they both wanted to say but knew it wouldn’t help any to say them. Gracie knew doing this might mean Lucas is never born… But Lucas was only born because her parents had argued about her dad leaving. They would have a chance to have other kids they could love together as a family… instead of her mom hiding dad’s only living son from him just because she was mad he left her.

They drove as far as Jack could before he became to weary to drive any more then slept at a truck stop. Gracie had been taught how to drive the truck but Jack had opted to avoid being pulled over because an eleven year old was driving.

When he woke up, they had gone to the bathroom, eaten stale snacks from the vending machines, and gotten back on the road with hardly a word spoken between them. Grace dozed off in the car. As the car approached Colorado Springs, Jack texted Sam. **Meet me at the park by your old house. 30 minutes.** Was all it said. She’d be there. He drove to the park and found it all but deserted because of the time of the day. Even so, he grabbed his baseball cap and pulled it low over his eyes to hide his features. He knew people wouldn’t expect to see him, he had avoided the Springs during the past six years except when coming to get Grace for vacation. He parked in the back by the woods and waited. Gracie stirred but didn’t wake up when he gently closed the door and walked to where he and Sam used to watch other people’s kids play with Gracie.

“Carter.” He said softly when she joined him.

“You came.”

“I had a right to know, Carter.”

Sam winced but rounded on him. “You left me.” She told him.

And yet, he thought, you used the love we still feel for each other to convince me to do this for you. “He’s my son, Carter. I had a right to know.”

“You gave up that right when you disappeared into the wind without a word, _sir_.” She said, emphasizing the last word.

“All you had to do was trust me and come with me.” He said, just as annoyed with her as she was with him.

“And hide in the woods for the rest of our lives?” She asked him, incredulous.

“If that’s what it takes, Carter.” He ground out at her.

“I can fix this.” She said firmly.

He turned and grabbed her shoulders. “All of it Carter? Even us?”

“Especially us.” She choked out on a sob and he had her wrapped in his arms, hugging her as though she was the lifeline of a drowning man. Sam hiccupped a sob and his arms tightened. She’d missed this part of him so much. Him being her anchor no matter how much the ground shifted and pitched under her.

“What do you need me to do?”


	9. Chapter 9

Sam, Daniel, Janet, and Jack are in Sam’s lab. A holographic projection of the sun displayed from one of her machines in the lab.

“Hot in here?” Jack quips. He’s told Gracie to stay in the truck. She doesn’t want to see Joe anyway so she does at least stay out of sight. There’s no way to sneak her into the lab anyway even if the Aschen really don’t give a damn about security at all.

“This is a real time representation of the actual sun, recorded by Aschen satellites all over the solar system.” Sam was telling them.

“How do you use it to predict a solar flare?” Janet asked her, curiously.

Sam shrugs a little. “I've been studying Aschen knowledge of solar dynamics for the Jupiter ignition project. And there are significant changes just beneath the surface of the sun preceding a flare that are detectable by the satellite net. Look right here.” She says, pointing, “If my calculations are right, there should be a flare in about five seconds.”

Jack moves to stand watch at the door and pointedly checks the hallway as the image of a solar flare emerges from the holographic sun.

“That’s it.” Daniel says simply.

Sam nods. “Now all we need to do is for the computer to predict another flare.” She glances at Janet. “Have you got your travel papers for Chulak?”

Janet nods a couple times. “Yeah, all set.”

Sam hands her a piece of paper. “Give this to Teal'c. It's the coordinates he'll need.”

“Joe’s here.” Jack tells them. Joe enters a moment later, giving Daniel and Janet a cursory glance and an imperceptible glare at Jack.

“Ambassador.” Jack greets him.

Joe gives Jack a perturbed look. “I knew you'd have something to do with this.”

Jack ignores the other man’s tone. “Did you get it?”

“Yes.” Joe tells him reluctantly.

“Thank you.” Sam says to her husband in the tone she uses on a colleague rather than a lover, Jack notes.

“What are you going to do with it?” Joe asks Jack, ignoring his wife for the moment. Things had become strained between them the last couple years with Gracie gone and Sam unable to conceive again. This was made worse when Sam discovered that she had involuntarily been sterilized by one of the Aschen vaccinations and Joe had known the ramifications of those vaccinations since the very beginning and never told her she would likely be one of the victims.

“Send a message.” Jack told him.

“To who?”

“To whom.” Jack corrects the other man. “Let’s have it.” He says, holding out his hand.

“I’ll hand it over if you give me your word that Samantha will play no part in this.” Joe insists of the other man.

Jack looks Joe dead in the eyes. Doesn’t he know his wife better than that? “I can’t do that.”

“It’s in a briefcase at the customs office at the Stargate Terminal. They’ve been instructed not to release it without my authorization.” He tries to stare Jack down. “Your word.” He says to the older man, knowing Jack for all his faults would never hurt Sam if he could avoid it.

“We need her to pull this off.” Because I’m sure as hell not putting my daughter in that position, Jack thought.

“Whatever it is, you'll have to do it without Sam.” Joe tells him firmly.

Sam almost pleads with Joe. “Joe, unless I help…” she told him.

Joe turned to Jack though, ignoring his wife. “This is not negotiable.” He told Jack firmly. “You don't want to tell me what it is you're planning, that's fine. But if it involves GDOs, then it involves the Stargate. And the terminal is the last heavily defended place left on this planet. I will not let you risk Sam's life.” He said, glaring as well as he was able.

“Okay.” Jack agreed. He got it. Joe’s primary motivation was protecting Sam. Not that Sam would want him to, Jack had always opted for having her back instead of protecting her but Sam had picked her path.

“You won't have back up…” Sam warned him.

“We won’t need it.” He tells her sincerely. They won’t. If Sam is right, none of this would have ever happened in which case backup wasn’t going to help either way because they would all be dead.

“Uh…The sun's beeping.” Daniel tells all of them.

Sam looked down at the computer “We have a flare prediction… fifty-seven minutes from now. Is that enough time?”

“It'll have to do.” Jack tells her.

* * *

Jack walks through the international terminal that now includes Gate travel as if that isn’t the weirdest thing ever. He has two bags over his shoulder. One of them is Gracie’s. Only Sam would believe Jack could get by with nothing but a handful of clothing and some protein bars. Joe hands him the case.

“Thank you.” He tells the husband of the woman he loves.

“If you can manage, give us enough time to get away from here…” Joe asks of him.

Jack wonders if the guy is stupid or delusional. “The message goes in six minutes.”

Joe shrugs. “Sam wanted me to wish you good luck.” He tells Jack, knowing his wife had so much more she wanted to say but never would.

“Give her my best.” Jack says, managing to not sound entirely sarcastic.

Joe walks away and Jack looks up at Janet who is at the top of the escalator. He heads around a glassed area. Daniel walks past him carrying a briefcase. A voice over the loudspeaker announces departures to Chulak. Janet heads for the terminal.

Inside the glass room, Jack loads a piton gun and puts a Zat in one of his bags.

Daniel watches Janet leave and waves at her.

Gracie slides around a wall on the other side of the gate, unseen by her father. Janet’s eyes widen as she goes through the Gate and she spots her goddaughter in the mix of people in the terminal.

Sam is by the outside transporter waiting for Joe. He joins her after he exits the terminal. “All right, let’s go.” He says to her.

Sam comes to a decision. “I'm staying. You go if you want to.” She tells her husband. She doesn’t know what to expect… but she knows Joe isn’t what she wants any more – she’s not certain she truly ever did. Even if Jack rejects her again… it’s time she stopped being a carpet just because he cares about her.

Joe tugs on Sam’s elbow. “C'mon. Sam, we've got to go.” He insists.

“Joe…” She says to him. “Don’t.” Don’t treat me like a child again. Half the reason I’m never going to love you back the way you need me to is treating me this way, she realizes.

With that one word, Joe realizes he’s losing her. “Sam. Listen to me. We can work this out, all right?” His eyes plead with her. He can fix this. If Jack isn’t around again, he can fix this. “Right now, I think it's best for both of us if we're very far away from here.”

Sam almost laughs at his naïveté. “If they manage to do this, it will not matter where we are.” She informs her soon to be ex-husband.

* * *

Jack comes out of the glassed area and the deceptively baby faced Mollem greets him. “O’Neill.” He says in a deceptively simple voice.

“Melon?” Jack pretends surprise.

“Mollem.” The other man corrects him.

“Mollem. I'm sorry. It's the war, you know.” Jack pretends to be addle brained just as they had accused him of being years ago.

“You didn't come to the anniversary celebration.” Mollem gently admonishes Jack.

Continuing with the addled brain routine, Jack spies his daughter out of the corner of his eye and winces internally. “What’s to celebrate, I say.” He says whimsically.

Mollem smiles the smile of the true believer. “Surely the Aschen have proven your earlier misgivings erroneous. For all we've done.”

“Yes. You've certainly done your part.” Jack tells him sarcastically though the other man doesn’t pick up on it at all.

“What brings you here?” Mollem finally asks Jack.

“Ah, well, you know my friend, Teal'c. I missed him at the celebration. He's coming into town. I brought him a hat.” Jack continues in that same whimsical tone he’d been using.

The PA system chirps to life again to announce incoming travelers from Chulak.

“He’s right on time.” Jack says with a satisfied smile.

Down by the dialer, Daniel walks up to Teal’c and his companion who are dressed traditionally as Free Jaffa council members carrying their staffs. They stopped at the top of the ramp stairs and looked around.

“I’m sorry, sir.” One of the attendants says. “Weapons are not allowed.” The alarms start to go off.

Daniel waves at them. “It’s archeological equipment…” He says with a dramatic huff. “This happens every time…” He reaches inside his briefcase.

Teal’c gives the guard a withering stare. “We carry these for ceremonial purposes only.”

“I'm sorry, but you'll have to let me have it.” the guard insists.

“Very well.” Teal’c says, enjoying the irony of the other man’s words. He fires his staff weapon at the dialer while Daniel shoots the guard with a zat. Teal’c goes to the DHD and starts dialing the coordinates as the alarms sound.

Meanwhile Mollem turns to Jack. “What's happening?”

Jack saves time and just shoots him with his zat as he hears the overhead disembodied voice comes to life again to announce they are terrorists and all the noncoms should skedaddle. The announcement said evacuate but Jack was in a whimsical mood.

All hell breaks loose. Teal’c is hit in the shoulder but it doesn’t slow him measurably. The other Jaffa fires at the laser ports while Daniel and Teal’c pick off guards.

As people start running out of the building, Sam breaks away from Joe and runs towards the building, Joe trailing behind her yelling her name.

“I thought I told you to stay in the car.” Jack admonishes his daughter when he reaches her. She’s managed to score a weapon off a fallen guard and is doing a fair job of taking out her share of bogies. Gracie just shrugs at him and Jack sighs in disgust.

Meanwhile, Jack sets the GDO on his wrist and attaches the piton line to himself. Gracie is covering him and is hit center mass. She crumples next to him.

“Gracie!” He says frantically as his hands go to her upper belly where blood is pooling at an alarming rate on her light grey shirt.

“Go Dad… fix this.” She says with a determined frown then passes out.

Jack gulps down his panic and sorrow. He fires the piton and slides down it only to watch Teal’c also die by the same automated weapons that had just killed his daughter. He stumbles halfway up the steps before he too is killed by the automated weapons system.

Joe runs into the system, yelling at the operators. “Shut down the system! Shut down the system!”

Sam runs to Daniel who has grabbed the note from Jack’s dead hands and takes the note from him. She doesn’t even pause as she runs up the steps and pitches the now crumpled and bloody note through the Gate as she is hit by the automated defense system.

Joe screams “No!” as he watches her dying act.


	10. Chapter 10

“Sir… I have the results of the blood analysis.” Janet said to Hammond as she walked into his office for their private medical briefing.

“Have a seat, Major.” He told her.

Janet sat obediently and opened the top of four files which contains the actual analysis.

“All right, Major, what can you tell me about the blood on that note?” Hammond asked her.

“Well, sir, the note had three separate blood samples on it but I noticed a strange correlation.”

“Oh?”

She opened one of the other files. “Two of the samples match ones we have on hand for existing SGC members.”

“Well, that makes sense doesn’t it? I’ll assume at least one of them was Colonel O’Neill as it’s his signature on the note.”

“It was, sir.” Janet frowned perplexed. “The third sample matches Major Carter.”

“That also makes sense.”

Janet hummed. “Sir, the second sample was a partial match.”

“What do you mean, Major?” Hammond asked her, his tone curious.

“It doesn’t directly match any staff on file at the SGC. But it is a partial match for two of them.”

“Oh?” Hammond had a pretty good idea where this was going but he needed her to say it so he could handle it correctly.

“Sir, the blood sample doesn’t match an SGC member directly but it’s a partial match for Major Carter, consistent with offspring.”

Hammond nods, having a strong suspicion he knows exactly what’s coming. “If I were to guess, Major, the blood sample is also a match for another member of the SGC?”

“Yes sir, it—”

But Hammond put up a hand. “Any information at this point is purely speculation. We have no idea when that message was sent or even technically why. Only that Major Carter and Colonel O’Neill went to a great deal of trouble to get it to us. Correct?”

“Yes sir.” Janet sighed… “But sir, the regulations…”

“Don’t cover situations when someone has a prior indiscretion before working with each other.”

“Sir…”

“Major, I will make it an order if I need to. Place all copies of that paperwork in my office by seventeen hundred today. It is officially fully classified. You are not to speak of it or its contents with any member of the SGC but myself. Understood?”

“Yes sir.” Janet said crisply.

“Good. Dismissed.”

Janet nods and gets up to leave.

“Oh, and Janet…” George says as she hits the door.

“Sir?”

“They have been successfully navigating this for years now. Unless it becomes a personnel problem, leave it be.” He smiles.

“Do you think he knows?”

“I cannot imagine he doesn’t by now, Janet. They are making the best of a previous bad decision on both their parts. If it becomes a problem on base, I’ll deal with it. As long as they remain professional in their dealings with each other, how they handle their private business is their own decision.”

“Yes sir.” Janet said with a small smile. It wasn’t exactly permission to break the rules, but it was tacit implication that what was going on would remain strictly confidential unless it started causing issues.

* * *

Jack picked up Gracie and swung her around.

Sam chuckled from the picnic table they had spread snacks and some paperwork of theirs out on while Gracie played with her little friends. “You’re going to make her throw up.” She admonishes Jack.

“What’s a little throw up between friends?” Jack asked laughing and put Gracie under his arm so she could spread out her arms and pretend she was a fighter jet.

Sam shook her head grinning and went back to work. Janet hadn’t told anyone whose blood was on that note. Sam was sure some of it was probably Jack’s but why? What terrible thing had transpired that he’d sent such a note into the past… and how far back into the past had he sent it?


End file.
